


We Can Be Heroes

by Ambs_Writes



Series: Heroes-Verse (Power Rangers AU) [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Amar a Muerte (TV), Power Rangers (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Power Rangers, Developing Friendships, F/F, Fighting/Training Sequences, Gen, Group dynamics, POWER RANGERS AU, Team Dynamics, Temporary Character Death, in which the power coins are surprisingly good match makers, slight angst, varying degrees of slow burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 72,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22096615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambs_Writes/pseuds/Ambs_Writes
Summary: It was a normal Saturday in Angel Grove. Students attended detetion and loitered around the town aimlessly. Adults went to work and then returned home to their families, there were even a few older children in town visiting from college. All in all, it was a normal weekend day, even for the six teenagers who snuck into the old gold mine on the outskirts of the city.Then an explosion, six colored gemstones, and car crash happened and nothing would ever be the same for those six teenagers, or the city of Angel Grove, again.Otherwise known as the Power Rangers AU (based onthis timblr post)
Relationships: Jemma Simmons/Skye | Daisy Johnson, Kimberly Hart/Trini, Valentina Carvajal/Juliana Valdés
Series: Heroes-Verse (Power Rangers AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1720078
Comments: 128
Kudos: 473





	1. The Coins Choose

**Author's Note:**

> It's finally here!!!!! Thank you so much to everyone who supported this idea on Tumblr and has been waiting patiently for me to get to writing it. Y'all are the best! 
> 
> Tags will probably be updated as I go along so if there's a tag that you think should be added, please let me know either in a comment or shoot me a message on Tumblr. 
> 
> Updates will be on Friday, probably in the early morning (CST). 
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> (Go, Go, Power Rangers)

Valentina stood leaning against the wall near the side door of Angel Grove High School. It was Saturday morning and Val, like the other sleepy students stumbling through the doors, had to attend detention until just before lunch that morning. Her older sister had been furious to learn that Valentina would be in detention that day, instead of joining Eva and Guille at home while they were both visiting from college. Valentina had ignored her sister's protests and accusations that Valentina had intentionally gotten detention when her older siblings had been in town, insisting that the event was simply a happy coincidence. Eva had not been amused but Valentina hadn’t cared much. At least she wasn’t going to be alone in detention, her friend Kimberly would be there too. 

Well, maybe friends wasn’t exactly the right word but Valentina felt closer to Kimberly than she did to the rest of the people who ran in their circle. They weren’t enemies, more like childhood friends who had drifted apart as they got older, but still hung out because they ran in the same social circle. They had certainly spent the most time together, at least during the summers. They had lived next door to each other since they were kids, their backyards lead to the same trail into the mountains that bordered the old gold mine and they had spent many summer days and late school nights wandering around in the woods until they stumbled upon a cliffside clearing the perfect height for cliff diving. Kimberly had been to that clearing nearly every night since the whole debacle with Ty and Amanda, and Valentina had no doubt that it would be where she headed that evening as well. Maybe Valentina would join her, just to get away from Eva who would no doubt be extra bitchy that evening. 

Valentina sighed slightly and pushed away from the wall at the familiar sight of Kimberly’s father’s car, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. Kimberly exits the car a few minutes later, looking annoyed, and makes her way over to Valentina. 

“Your parents still giving you shit about the tooth?” Valentina asks they pull open the doors and walk inside. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Kim replies with a slight shrug. “They put it back.” 

Valentina thinks about saying something in response but decides to keep her mouth closed as they walk down the hallway. Halfway down the hall, leaning on the wall next to a water fountain, a girl in a red t-shirt brushes her hair behind her ear. She looks up briefly as Valentina and Kimberly pass, making eye contact with Valentina. Valentina’s step falters slightly as she turns her head to hold the contact with the girl. She knows she’s seen her before, but she can’t remember her name. She looks away as Valentina passes by and Valentina feels like she should have said something. Instead, Valentina faces forward and walks into detention with Kimberly. 

Juliana runs her hand through her hair as she picks up her bag off the floor and slings it over her shoulder. She had just watched, slightly wary, as two of the most popular girls in school walked by her, apparently also attending detention. Juliana expected to see Kimberly there, the whole school knew about her punching Ty Fleming’s tooth out, but she didn’t know Valentina would be there as well. Not that it mattered, it was just detention. It’s not like they would be talking in detention, they’d barely even made eye-contact. Juliana doubted Valentina even knew who she was. They definitely had different friend groups, meaning that Valentina actually had friends. Juliana had her sketchbook and her younger twin siblings to look after and that was enough for her. 

Juliana lingered in the hall for a few more minutes before heading into the detention room. Kim and Valentina had chosen seats in the middle of the room, away from the stoners in one back corner and the bullies in the other. A few desks away from them was Jemma, a new student at Angel Grove. Juliana had shared a lunch table with the British student a few times and she seemed nice if a little prone to rambling. She was probably the closest thing Juliana had to a friend after learning that if she stuck around her long enough, most of the school bullies would leave her alone. Juliana had never done anything to garner her reputation as a tough, not to be messed with girl, but she didn’t complain about the perks such a reputation awarded her. She only wished that same notoriety would latch on to the twins. 

Jemma offered Juliana a smile as she passed by, which quickly turned to a frown as Bulk and Skull came up to her desk from the far corner where they had been loitering with the rest of the delinquents. 

“Lots of fresh meat in detention today,” Skull commented, picking up one of the two pencils resting on Jemma’s desk. “We’ve got the pretty ones and the nerds.” 

“Yes, well, you filled the ugly and dumb quota for us, didn’t you?” Jemma responded without looking up from the worksheet she had on her desk. Juliana concealed a smile and bit back the laugh that wanted to escape. 

“Big mouth for a puny girl.” Bulk said, cracking his knuckles. When Jemma didn’t look up, Bulk decided to get her attention by breaking the pencil Skull had picked up. Jemma looked up at the noise. Before she could say anything, Juliana stepped up behind her desk. 

“Problem?” Juliana asked, glowering at the two bullies. She was aware that all eyes in the room were on her, but she kept her own eyes focused on the boys. 

“None of your business Valdes,” Skull returned her glower, though his was noticeably weaker. 

“Back off,” Bulk crossed his arms over his chest. Juliana raised one eyebrow at him. 

“You first.” Juliana clenched her hands into fists, smirking slightly. All she had to do was gesture with her chin slightly, her reputation did the rest. Bulk and Skull backed away, citing any excuse they could to make it seem like it was their idea to leave instead of them being scared. “You okay, Jemma?” 

“I’m perfectly fine,” Jemma offered her sort-of-friend a smile, “down a pencil, though.” 

“You can borrow one of mine.” Juliana offered and reclaimed her seat moments before the teacher monitoring them came in. Handing over a spare pencil to Jemma, Juliana settled in for several dull hours of doing homework. 

She looked up briefly when Kimberly exited the room and noticed Valentina looking back at her. Juliana felt her face heat as she noticed and quickly looked away, wondering why she had reacted that way. It was probably just hotter in the room than she had realized. 

Kimberly stared at her reflection in the mirror. The cut photograph of her hung on the wall with a pair of scissors holding it up. She hated this school, this town, these people that turned their backs on her so quickly. So much for friendship. Whatever, she didn’t care. They were shallow and fake people anyway. Not that Kim felt she was much better. Sure, Ty had probably deserved that punch even if knocking his tooth out had been an accident, but Amanda didn’t deserve to be exposed like that. It was a harsh, bitchy move that Kim regretted but she couldn’t take it back. All Kim could do was act like she had no regrets and keep walking tall. 

Well, Kim thought with a glance at the scissors stabbed into the wall, maybe that’s not all she could do. If her friends thought she was changing, then maybe she should. She was already off the cheer squad; she’d be in Saturday detention for at least another month and that was if she kept herself out of trouble until then. Besides, after what she had done, this didn’t seem so drastic. Before she could talk herself out of it, Kim pulled the scissors from the wall and grabbed a chunk of her hair. 

When Kim finally made it back to the classroom, she was greeted by whistles and catcalls as the class took in her new appearance. Smirking, Kim reclaimed her seat next to Valentina. 

“Anything you want to talk about?” Valentina asked with a raised eyebrow, but she doubted Kim would be willing to talk about whatever it was that had pushed her over to cutting her own hair in the school bathroom. Kim picked up a pencil and opened her math book. 

“Nothing to talk about.” 

“Right.” Valentina looked as skeptical as she sounded but let the matter go. She and Kim might have been closer friends when they were younger, but it was different now. They were sitting together in detention friends, not I know you and trust you to keep my secrets friends. 

Rather than pester Kim about what was obviously bothering her, Valentina decided to look around at the other kids in detention. There were some, like Bulk and Skull, who she could say lived in detention and she wasn’t surprised to see them there. A few others that she had seen around the school but couldn’t say for sure who they were, like the exchange student from England who Valentina was pretty sure already had at least one college degree. Then there was the girl in the red shirt.

Valentina didn’t know her name or anything about her other than that they shared an art class and their lockers were in the same area. The girl was quiet, kept to herself. Valentina had seen her sitting alone at lunch, sometimes with the British girl. She carried a sketchbook with her, but Valentina had never seen what was inside it. She wasn’t sure what it was about this girl, but something drew Valentina to her. Then again, Valentina had never been able to pluck up the courage to talk to the girl. Maybe if she did, she could figure out what about this girl pulled Valentina in so easily.

“We should go cliff diving tonight,” Kim whispered suddenly, pulling Valentina from her musings.

“Isn’t it getting a little cold for that?” Valentina asked, picking up her own pencil to work on her own homework.

“Not yet, but it will soon. Might be our last chance.” Kimberly turned her head, her newly shortened hair wiping about her chin. “It’ll be fun.”

“And freezing.” Valentina rolled her eyes. “But sure, I’ll meet you at the tree line at seven.”

Kimberly held up her hand in a thumbs-up sign and they both got back to work. Valentina spent more time trying to covertly watch the girl in the red shirt than she did actually doing homework, but she had gotten a fair amount done by the time the monitor allowed them to leave. She and Kimberly walked out together, the first two at the door.

“I’ll see you at seven,” Kimberly said and waved over her shoulder as her parents pulled up. Valentina watched the Hart's reactions to Kim’s new hairstyle. Kimberly’s parents didn’t look happy, but Valentina noticed an almost smug grin on Kimberly’s lips as she climbed into the back seat.

Shaking her head slightly, Valentina headed towards her own car. She pulled her keys out of her pocket and was about to hit the button to pop the trunk open when another body collided with her from behind.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” An accented voice called; warm hands reached out to stabilize Valentina before she fell.

“It’s okay.” Valentina regained her footing and checked to make sure she hadn’t dropped anything. That done, she turned to the left to see the person who had run into her. “No harm, no foul.”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Perhaps walking backward and talking at the same time hadn’t been a good idea. It’s lucky that Juliana was here, though, otherwise you might have fallen. Oh, I’d have felt so horrible if you had.” The British girl rambled an apology and Valentina nodded along with an easy, forgiving smile. It wasn’t until the girl mentioned the name Juliana that Valentina realized the hands gently holding her arms didn’t belong to the girl speaking to her. Turning her head to the right, Valentina saw the girl in the red shirt. She seemed unaware that she was holding on to Valentina still, a small, almost amused smile painted on her lips as the British girl continued to ramble. “I really am terribly sorry.”

“Apology accepted…” Valentina trailed off and waited for the girl to fill in her name.

“Jemma. Jemma Simmons.”

“Valentina. And apology accepted Jemma.” Valentina offered her a smile. “And thank you for catching me, Juliana, right?”

“Yeah,” Juliana cleared her throat and seemed to suddenly realize she was still holding Valentina’s arms. She let go hastily. “No problem. I’ve gotta go. Jemma, I’ll see you later.”

“Right, of course, see you.” Jemma waved as Juliana started walking away towards a motorcycle sitting in the far corner of the lot. “Sorry again, Valentina.”

“Don’t worry about it. Do you need a lift home?” Valentina nodded towards her car and hit the button to open the trunk. As she put her things down, she heard the sound of an engine revving and looked up just in time to see Juliana ride out of the parking lot.

“That would be lovely, thank you.” Jemma walked around the car to the passenger side and climbed into the front seat as Valentina took her place behind the wheel. The car started silently, and Valentina eased them out of the school parking lot, following Jemma’s directions to her house.

“How are you liking school in America?” Valentina asked conversationally. She didn’t want Jemma to feel too uncomfortable since the two had never spoken before. Valentina was anything but rude, something that made her quite proud of herself as it was the opposite of her sister who had a habit of being everything but nice.

“It’s an adjustment, that’s for sure. The grade levels are different, not to mention the measurement system. Luckily, I don’t feel too far behind in any class, even if American history is horribly confusing.” Jemma tapped her fingers against her knee. She continued to prattle on about the differences between American and British schools, pausing occasionally to tell Valentina when to turn. Valentina listened attentively, if somewhat absently. She didn’t mind Jemma’s ramble, but her mind was still stuck on the feeling of Juliana’s hands on her arms.

Eventually, Valentina’s car came to a stop outside a modest looking two-story home and she hit the button to unlock Jemma’s door.

“Thank you so much for the ride home,” Jemma said as she climbed out.

“No problem. See you at school.” Valentina waved as Jemma closed the car door and walked up to the house. Valentina waited until Jemma was inside, just in case, before pulling away from the curb and heading towards her own home. She had several hours to kill before she was set to meet Kimberly, so she drove slowly. As she drove, Valentina decided to get out of spending any unnecessary time with Eva, especially if she was extra bitchy like Val thought she would be, by asking Guille if he wanted to play some songs together. Nothing annoyed Eva more than Guille and Valentina practicing their ‘useless’ musical skills.

~

Daisy Johnson enjoyed her weekends very much, especially when she wasn’t in detention. It wasn’t that she liked making trouble, she just thought school was boring. Daisy had much more fun climbing all over the abandoned train cars in the mines than sitting at a desk for seven hours a day. The only classes she had ever enjoyed were her taekwondo classes, and those weren’t offered at Angel Grove High School, or anywhere in Angel Grove for that matter. The town had its perks, namely the mines and tons of space for Daisy to practice parkour, but the novelty of being in a new town quickly wore off and Daisy had gotten bored.

Her parents, well the couple that had adopted her, did their best to help. They encouraged Daisy to go to school and keep practicing taekwondo and let her do work around their somewhat rundown home to earn some spare cash. Daisy used the money to set up her own home away from home in a train car she was able to buy off an older Asian woman who lived nearby. She hadn’t done much to the space, just put some padding down so she could practice indoors when it got colder and installed a couple of tables for her to work on. Daisy liked to dismantle things, computers, tablets, phones, watches, anything electronic really. It started as just something she was curious about and wanted to see if she could do. If everything around her was broken, at least she could fix something. Phil and Melinda, her new parents, didn’t protest the insane amount of broken and damaged tech Daisy had around the house, but she wanted to make sure to clear that all out sooner rather than later, just in case.

Like she did most Saturdays, Daisy headed to the mines just after lunch with plans to stay there until long after the sun went down. Armed with a speaker, a playlist and the motivation of being insanely bored, Daisy spent a few hours taking apart a cell phone before moving outside and practicing her flips. And, like most Saturdays, just before the sun started setting, Daisy could see a dot of color in the distance. From the top of her train car, Daisy has a view of a small outcropping of rocks about halfway up the mountain next to the train car park. It’s too far away for Daisy to make out any real details, but every weekend, like clockwork, a figure appears and climbs up onto the biggest rock. Daisy can usually make out the color of their clothes, whoever it is likes to wear a yellow beanie with every outfit, but not much else. She can see them move and pause, it looks like yoga poses but Daisy isn’t sure if it is or not. She tries not to look too hard. She can’t blame someone for seeking refuge in the mine, that’s what she does too, even though her curious nature wants to figure out who that person is.

The sun sets quickly and Daisy makes her way into the woods, following the trail she’d carved from a back entrance of the mines to her little hideaway. Security is pretty lax around the sides of the mines, which makes it easy to sneak in and out. The trail is twisted and curving, impossible to follow if you don’t know where it is. The particular path Daisy uses branches off from one of the better-known paths, which Daisy is surprised to find occupied when she arrives.

Two girls walk along the path, an awkward, silent air around them. Daisy vaguely recognizes them from Angel Grove High, the few times she’d bothered to attend anyway. She’s pretty sure the shorter one, with darker hair in a choppy bob, was the girl who punched some guy’s tooth out. Daisy waited until the girls had passed the point where the two paths met before climbing through the foliage onto the path proper, thinking the mines seemed oddly populated that night.

Daisy shrugged and started to walk off, headed towards home but something tells her to stop. She doesn’t know if it’s instinct or her conscious, or something that she can’t consciously comprehend, but there’s a feeling rising in her stomach. Something’s about to happen. Something incredible. Something dangerous. Something that Daisy will want to be a part of.

Daisy half turns back towards the woods, considering her options. She could ignore the feeling and go home, pretending that her curiosity wouldn’t eat her up until she finally came back to the mines and found something completely ordinary. Or, she could stick around, trust this feeling inside and maybe finds something extraordinary. Shrugging her shoulders, Daisy decided that she had nothing to lose, turned on her heel, and took a path through the woods she had never followed before. Perhaps it was time for another adventure.

Trini had just climbed down from her favorite rock when she heard the voices from below, one excited and one slightly exasperated. Trini shook her head, adjusting her beanie and putting her headphones into her bag before flinging it over her shoulder. If those two girls talked any louder, the whole mine would hear them. Trini had occasionally seen other people around the mines, some stupid kids getting drunk or a couple looking for a hidden make-out spot. At least those people had had the good sense to be quiet.

“Jemma, maybe we shouldn’t use that much material.” One voice said slowly like she was trying to convince the other of something.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” The other girl - Jemma apparently - said. “We want to actually make a dent in this rock, don’t we?” Trini wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that.

“When you asked me to help you with a project in the mines, this isn’t what I thought you meant.”

“It’s a gold mine! Why shouldn’t we be digging for gold?” Jemma sounded somewhere between amused and aghast.

“I don’t think this qualifies as digging.” Now Trini’s curiosity was peaked. What could those two girls possibly be up to?

“Oh, it’s fine. Just stand back,” Jemma said. “And cover your ears.” Trini definitely didn’t like the sound of that. Surely this British girl wasn’t about to do what Trini thought she was going to do. They wouldn’t actually do that, right?

Wrong.

Trini stumbled as the ground shook beneath her feet, the solid  _ boom  _ of an explosion echoing off the mountainside. Dust filled the air and Trini waved her hand in front of her face as she coughed, trying in vain to clear the air. She couldn’t believe those girls actually set off an explosion. Were they trying to get caught?

“What the hell are you doing?” A new voice says from below. At least, Trini thinks it’s a new voice. Her ears are still ringing so she can’t be sure.

“Take it easy.” Not-Jemma from before answered. “It was an accident.”

“How do you accidentally blow up a mountain?”

“And can you do it again?”

“No!”

Trini’s having a hard time tracking the voices speaking and shakes her head to try and clear it.

“Perhaps you were right,” Jemma’s voice Trini can hear clearly, mostly because Jemma’s yelling loudly rather than speaking at a normal volume. “We should have used less.”

“You think?” A snarky comment comes as Trini climbs to her feet again.

“Jemma, you don’t have to yell. We can all hear you.”

“Sorry!” Jemma’s apology is also yelled. Trini rolls her eyes and approaches the edge of the pathway. She’s a good ten feet above the group assembled below her, five girls who look like they would never have spoken to one another if they hadn’t been around at that very moment. Part of Trini wants to just leave and let them get caught by security while she made a clean getaway, but her conscience won out in the end.

“HEY!” Trini yelled to be heard over the bickering that had sprung up between the girls. They all paused and turned as one to look up at her. It was almost comical. “You guys looking to get busted or something? This is a restricted area!”

“Says the rock yoga girl!” A girl clad in all black yelled back up at her. “I’ve seen you around.”

“Yeah and you’re the one always around the trains, aren’t you. I’ve seen you too homegirl.” The girl smirks up at Trini, who ignores her. “We should all get outta here. Before security comes.”

“She’s right.” The girl in the red t-shirt comes up, Trini recognizes her voice as the girl who had initially arrived with Jemma. “We should--”

A low rumble cuts off the girl’s words and they all pause for a second. Trini looks down at her feet and sees the cracks forming in the rocks. Oh shit, she thinks, and then she’s not thinking much of anything as the ground crumbles beneath her, taking Trini with it. She can hear the other girls yelling and coughing and clamoring to get to her. She feels a layer of dust coating her skin and coughs. It’s over as quickly as it started and Trini finds herself on thankfully steady ground once again, surrounded by rubble.

“Oh, thank god,” a voice calls and Trini looks up to see two girls looking over the pile of rubble at her. The girl on the left is the black-clad one who had yelled up at her before. This close Trini can make out her features a little better, but she still doesn’t recognize her. The girl on the right, Trini knows by sight and reputation--and the annoying little flutter in her stomach that she gets every time she sees her--Kimberly Hart. Kimberly was the one who had spoken. “You’re not dead.”

“That was lucky,” the other girl comments. Trini levels a glare at her as she climbs to her feet.

“I wouldn’t get call getting caught in a rockslide ‘lucky.’”

“Not that part,” the girl rolls her eyes. “I mean the not getting hurt part. What’re the odds of that?”

“I’m sure Jemma could run the numbers and tell you.” The girl in the red shirt steps into the crater.

“I’m good, thanks.”

Trini ignores the girl and pulls off her beanie to shake the dust off of it. The girl in the red shirt turns to her.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine.” Trini pulls her beanie back on and coughs slightly. “Dusty.”

“I really am terribly sorry.” A significantly paler girl in a light blue cardigan joined the group. She must be Jemma. “I did not think the explosion would be that big.”

“Forget it, it's fine.” Trini shrugged it off. She wasn’t hurt anyway, just a little annoyed. “We should really get out of here.”

“Wait come look at this,” another voice calls and Trini turns to see another girl she could recognize on sight but had never actually met. Valentina was almost as notorious as Kimberly but for opposite reasons. Trini had only ever heard nice things about Valentina, and the recent rumors about Kimberly were anything but nice.

Valentina was standing in front of an opaque glass wall that looked almost as if it had been painted on to the mountainside. Streaks of tan rocks covered the surface near the bottom and top edges from where the rock face had been blown away, but the surface in the middle was nearly pristine.

“There’s something in there,” Valentina said, lifting her hand and touching the smooth surface of the wall. The others moved closer until they could all see the glint of something golden hidden behind the stone barrier. They fell silent as each of the other girls mirrored Valentina. Trini could see hints of other colors in the stone, but it was the yellow gleam that caught her attention the most. The silence was shattered when one of the girls dashed away from the wall suddenly and returned moments later with a pickaxe in hand, which she swung against the rock.

The others shouted and moved out of the way as the center of the rock broke off and then crashed into pieces as it hit the ground. A tangle of hands reached through the shards. When they each drew their hands back, they were all holding something. Six-coin shaped objects were in their hands, ringed in gold with a large colored gem taking up the bulk of its mass. Trini held the one with the yellow stone, the black-clad girl to the left held the one with the black stone, which seemed oddly appropriate. Jemma held the white stone; Kimberly’s was pink, and the one Valentina held was blue. The last one, red, was held by the girl who had arrived with Jemma, who’s name Trini didn’t know.

The six coins seemed to pulse in their hands, glowing slightly without any obvious source of light. Trini almost felt powerful holding that gem like she could suddenly do anything and everything. She hoped that rang true as the alarm she’d been waiting for finally went off.

The six girls split, taking off in different directions to escape the security forces chasing after them. Trini found herself running alongside Kimberly, luckily the adrenaline of running for their lives kept the butterflies in her stomach at bay. As long as their hands would stop brushing together, Trini thought that they may make it. Trini was so focused on running, she didn't notice the minivan racing around the corner and drifting towards them until it was almost too late. It was only Kimberly’s surprisingly fast reflexes that kept Trini from being hit, instead pulling her backward towards Kimberly’s body. They stumbled a bit and stood panting as the minivan slid to a stop a few feet away. Even with the adrenaline coursing through her veins, Trini was hyper-aware of Kimberly’s arm wrapped around her waist and the way their chests heaved in tandem. The back door of the minivan slid open and the girl in the red shirt came into view.

“Get in!” Kimberly and Trini looked at one another, Kim released her hold on Trini’s waist, and they climbed into the van. Juliana left the door open behind them and ordered Jemma, who was sitting behind the wheel of the van looking extremely uncomfortable, to hit the gas.

“Are you sure you don’t want to drive?” Jemma asked the van still stationary.

“Just go Jemma!” Juliana, Kimberly, and Trini yelled together. Jemma released a shriek like agreement and finally, the van started moving again. The door slid along its track, moving back and forth as the van swung around another curve. Trini thought Jemma was doing a decent job driving, considering that she had probably never done so before.

“Hold the door open! There’s Valentina,” Juliana said as a figure came up beside the van. Valentina’s stride was long and even but she still struggled to keep up with the vehicle as they continued on. Trini held the door open as Kimberly and Juliana each held out a hand to help Valentina into the van. Valentina reached out and grabbed the first hand she could. Juliana hauled her into the van and Trini pushed the door closed.

“What about the other girl?” Jemma asked as the others continued to tell her to go faster. The four girls in the back paused for a moment, looked at one another, nodded, and then told Jemma to keep driving. A moment later, the roof was suddenly dented as a body landed on top of it. Long dark hair spilled over the side as the final girl’s head appeared in the window.

“Let me in!” Jemma rolled down the window and the other girl crawled through it, landing in a heap in the passenger seat. “Man, you guys are crazy.”

“Did you just jump onto a moving vehicle?” Jemma asked, looking over at the girl. She shrugged.

“I like parkour.” The girl moved around a bit until she was sitting upright in her seat. “I’m Daisy by the way.”

“Jemma,”

“Kimberly,”

“Valentina,”

“Maybe we can do introductions when we aren’t trying to escape security?” The girl in the red shirt asked. The other five stared at her, Jemma looking through the rear-view mirror.

“She’s Juliana,” Valentina said. Juliana looked at her like she had grown a second head.

“Nice to meet you guys.” There was a general chorus sharing the same sentiment and smiles exchanged until Kimberly’s eyes suddenly grew wide as she looked behind them.

“They’re catching up. We need to get out of here.”

“There’s a train coming,” Daisy said moments before a train horn sounded. “Cut across the tracks. The security trucks will have to stop and wait for the train to pass.”

“We’ll never make it across. The train’s too fast.” Trini said. Kimberly looked back at her like she was trying to figure out who Trini was. Trini had intentionally kept quiet during the little introduction exchange earlier. The likelihood of her ever voluntarily hanging out with these people again diminished by the second but part of her felt like she’d be seeing them all again anyway. 

“We’re out of options,” Kim said, still looking at Trini. Trini looked away. “Turn now. Go across here.”

They were too far away from the track; Juliana knew as soon as they made the turn that they wouldn’t make it across. The train was moving too fast. The girls were screaming, arguing about whether they should stop or keep going. Jemma kept her foot on the gas. They didn’t make it across the tracks.

The windows shattered and a sickening crunch made Juliana’s head throb. She could feel her body moving through the air, almost as if it was in slow motion. A pulse of light showed in her peripheral vision. White, then black, yellow, pink, blue and finally red.

Then, everything faded to black.


	2. Back to the Mines

Juliana woke up and groaned, rolling out of her bed. Her body ached with every movement and her joints popped as she stood up straight. Images of color flashed before her eyes, the echo of a siren sounded in her ears. A train horn. The sound of glass breaking. The creak of metal being forced into a new shape. All at once, the memories come back to her. She remembers letting Jemma talk her into helping her with a project at the mines, an explosion, a girl she vaguely recognized from school getting caught in the resulting rockslide and a wall of glass buried behind the rock face. A group of girls arguing and one of them breaking the glass wall. Daisy, Jemma thinks it was, who had picked up the pickaxe. Juliana remembers the glint of gold that had shone through the strange glass-like rock, and the red gem that had almost called out to her. 

Juliana touched her back pocket as she remembered the coin and felt the outline of it there. She pulled it out and looked down at the gem. It wasn’t glowing anymore, Juliana wasn’t sure if had glowed at the mines or not. It was probably a reflection of the flashing security lights. Her attention was pulled away from the gem when her eyes focused on the fabric of her jeans. They were torn and dirty, as was her shirt. She was still in the red shirt she had worn to detention, but it could hardly be called a shirt anymore. The fabric was torn and ripped, exposing more of Juliana’s abdomen than it covered. It looked like she’d been thrown out a window only to land on the broken glass. Thinking about the crash she thought she remembered, that probably wasn’t too far off from what had happened. 

Juliana dropped the coin on to her bed and pulled what remained of her shirt off. Based on the way her body ached when she woke up, Juliana had expected her shoulders to protest any movement that involved raising her arms, but pulling off her shirt was surprisingly easy. She’s not sure what to make of that but decides that she’d rather shower and eat before questioning what is happening to her body. Juliana gathers a clean outfit and makes her way down the hall to the bathroom. Once the door is closed, she starts up the shower and turns to the sink to brush her teeth while she waits for the water to heat up. Her eyes widen when she doesn’t see the bruises she had expected to cover her body. A crash like the one she had been in should have left a mark on her body, a very visible one. 

Instead, it gave her abs? 

Juliana had always been slim, a product of not having enough food growing up before the twins were born and they moved away from San Antonio that her body had never quite recovered from, but she had never been particularly muscular. That had changed, seemingly overnight. It wasn’t a big change but the new definition on her abdomen came as a shock. Juliana flexed experimentally to see the full effect, which was apparently a mistake as her stomach turned immediately and Juliana bent over the toilet to heave out what remained of her last meal. She coughed once she was done, flushing her sick down the toilet with one hand and reaching for the sink with the other, intending to use it as leverage to heave herself off the floor. The corner of the sink crumbled under her hand, broken bits of porcelain falling to the ground with scattered  _ plinks _ . Juliana stared at the crumbled rocks, dumbfounded. What the hell was happening to her? 

“Juli?” There was a knock on the door following her mother’s voice. “Are you okay in there?” 

“I’m fine, Ma,” Juliana called back as she stood, careful not to lean too heavily on anything near her. 

“I thought I heard something crash.” 

“I dropped my phone.” That lie would fall apart as soon as her mom or one of the twins came into the bathroom but Juliana wasn’t about to tell her mother that she broke the bathroom sink. 

“Okay,” Lupita clicked her tongue. “Well, hurry up. You’re gonna be late for school.” 

“Huh?” Juliana patted her pockets until she found her phone which she luckily did have with her. It was nearly dead which made sense considering Juliana hadn’t plugged it in before she fell asleep. Over a day ago. The date on her screen confirmed that it was indeed Monday morning, which meant Juliana had slept all Sunday. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lupita sounded a little worried now. “I tried not to bother you yesterday because you were so tired. You were out late Saturday. What time did you get home?” 

“Late,” Juliana put her phone down on the unbroken side of the sink. “I’m fine, Mom. I’m gonna shower. Take the twins to school, I’ll take my bike today.” 

Lupita agreed to leave and take her two youngest children to school so they wouldn’t have to wait on Juliana and Juliana climbed into the shower, wondering how she had gotten home from the mines at all. Were the others the same? Had they all made it home safely? Surely Juliana couldn’t be alone in all of this, the other five girls had each picked up one of the coins as well, hadn’t they? As if summoned by her thoughts, when Juliana stepped out of the shower the red and gold coin rested on the sink right next to her phone as if it had always been there. Juliana stared at it for a moment before the urge to pick it up grew to powerful and Juliana gave in. As her skin made contact with the gem, Juliana felt something like conviction in her veins. She felt stronger, powerful, almost like she could fly. The feeling faded a bit when she dropped the coin back to the sink, but was still noticeable to Juliana. She could feel the energy resting just beneath her skin, as if it was waiting to be released. 

She dressed quickly and dried her hair, letting it fall down straight. Her phone had died while she was showering but Juliana pocketed it anyway, she could charge it in class. After a moment of hesitation, she picked up the coin and pocketed that as well. Juliana grabbed her bag and an apple from the kitchen on her way out the door, slipping into her black leather jacket and pulling her helmet on as she started her bike up. She needed to talk to the other girls and resolved to find at least one of them at lunch, seeing as she was already ten minutes late and wouldn’t be able to catch them before school. She just hoped that she wasn’t the only one having a weird morning. She didn’t know what she would do if she was. 

Kimberly stared at the broken phone in her hand. The phone she had just accidentally crushed in response to the texts she’d gotten from Amanda and a few other girls on the cheer squad. Kim hadn’t meant to fold her phone in half, clenching her fist had been an instinctual reaction to her anger. She hadn’t expected her phone to bend as well. Kim relaxed her hand and the phone fell to the floor, useless. She’d have to pick up a new one after school at some point, but it would be good to go without one for a little bit. She could distance herself from Amanda and Ty that way, which was apparently going to be difficult to do even after being forcibly removed from the cheer squad. All of her ‘friends’ had already rejected her, but that hadn’t stopped them from messaging her all weekend and getting angry when she didn’t respond. Kim was almost glad she had slept a full day away. 

Sweeping her broken phone away with her foot, Kim turned towards her desk and picked up the pink coin she’d taken from the mines. She wasn’t sure why she had brought the coin home, but then again she wasn’t sure how she had gotten home in the first place. Maybe it would be nice to have something to commemorate the weekend she and five other girls, all of whom had been virtual strangers to her, had run from security in the mines and crashed into a moving train and somehow managed to wake up unscathed. Aside from a little soreness in her back and tense knot of muscle on her arm, Kim felt pretty good for having had a near death experience. Ignoring the apparent super strength, Kimberly felt fairly normal, if a little more angry than usual. 

A surprised yelp from outside pulled Kimberly’s attention to her open window. That was odd, Kimberly normally slept with the windows closed, but she was more concerned with the noise than the window itself. Pulling back her curtains and peering down at the driveway below, Kimberly saw Valentina looking back and forth between her hand and the car she was standing next too. It wasn’t the car Valentina normally drove, which Kim could see still parked in the garage, but one of the family SUVs. Kimberly wasn’t sure what was wrong until Valentina moved her arm and Kimberly realized that what she had thought had simply been an open car door, was actually a car door but it wasn’t attached to the car anymore. Valentina held it by the handle as if it weighed no more than the backpack on her other shoulder. 

“Valentina?” Kimberly called through the open window. 

“What the fuck just happened?” Valentina’s voice floated up to Kimberly. It seemed that she hadn’t heard her name being called. Kimberly tried again and this time Valentina looked up at her. “Kim?” 

“Did you just pull a door off a car?” Kimberly asked, leaning out of the window slightly to get a better look. Valentina looked between the car door in her hand, the car, and then up at Kimberly. 

“I think so?” Her eyes were wide with surprise. 

“Hold on, I’m coming down.” Kimberly turned from the window after Valentina nodded and headed out of her room with her jacket and bag in tow. She didn’t notice until she was already outside that she had grabbed the pink coin as well. 

Valentina was standing in the same spot when Kimberly made it to her side. From this angle, Kimberly could clearly see the hinges of the door handing from the rest of the car. It didn’t look so much like it had been ripped out so much as just picked up and moved. “How are you holding that?” 

“I have no idea.” Valentina swung the door around and Kimberly had to take a step back to avoid being hit with it. 

“Are you going to let it go?” 

“Yes.” Valentina’s grip didn’t relax. Kimberly stared at her. “Right. Okay.” Valentina turned again, carefully this time so she wouldn’t accidently hit Kim, and set the car door on the grass near the driveway. Kimberly looked at the door for a moment and then back at Valentina. 

“How did you do that?” She asked. “Why did you do that?” 

“I didn’t mean to!” Valentina insisted. “I just wanted to put my bag in the backseat. Next thing I know, I have a car door in my hand.” 

“Wasn’t it heavy?” Kimberly adjusted her bag on her shoulders, resisting the urge to see if she could pick up the car door as well. 

“No, actually,” Valentina sounded dumbfounded, a feeling that Kimberly shared. “It was like holding a book.” 

“Huh,” Kim hummed slightly. “Do you have one of those coins we found in the mines?” 

Valentina reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue and gold coin. “I found it on my dresser this morning but I’m not sure how it got there. Or how I got here. I don’t remember anything after the crash.” 

“Me either.” Kimberly pulled her own coin out. She thought she saw a dull glow when she and Valentina held the two coins close together, but it had probably been a trick of the light. “We should head to school and find the others. I’ll give you a ride.” 

“Yeah, thanks.” Valentina followed Kimberly across the yard to where Kimberly’s family parked their cars. Kim’s was the only one that remained in the driveway, her parents had gone into work early as they normally did and her older brother Kyle was away at college. They threw their bags into the backseat after carefully opening the door. Valentina closed the door gently, like she was afraid if she pushed too hard she’d shatter the glass. Kimberly had the same fear and explained what she had done to her phone on the way to school. She felt hyper aware of her hands and was careful to not hold onto the steering wheel to hard. She didn’t want to push their luck with a second car crash. 

“Do you think this happened to the others?” Valentina asked as Kimberly pulled into her parking spot. She looked at the students making their way to the doors of the school, but didn’t see any of the other girls they had met at the mines. 

“Probably.” Kimberly felt the weight of the coin in her pocket. “We all grabbed a coin. We won’t know until we talk to them.” 

“Let’s see if we can find them before the bell.” Valentina said and climbed out of Kimberly’s car. A few people stopped to look at the newly minted social outcast walking into school with the person many had regarded as the class sweetheart but neither Kimberly nor Valentina paid them any mind. They had other things to worry about just then rather than the drama of high school social circles. 

Jemma breathed a sigh of relief when she finally spotted Juliana at their usual lunch table. Jemma had been looking for Juliana, or any of the other girls she had met in the mines Saturday night, but hadn’t been able to find any of them before the first bell or in between classes. She thought she might have shared a class with Valentina, but that wasn’t until the afternoon. 

“Thank god you’re here.” Jemma said as she sat down with her lunch tray. Juliana looked up at her questioningly. “Something is wrong with me.” 

“Let me guess,” both Juliana and Jemma looked up as two figures approached the table. Valentina and Kimberly sat down across from them. 

“You’re both freakishly strong and surprised to be alive?” Kim guessed as she took her seat. 

“Yes, exactly.” Jemma nodded and patted her pocket. “And this thing keeps showing up in my pocket.” She pulled out the coin with a dull white gem in the middle. 

“Yeah, mine too,” Kim pulled her pink coin out and put it on the table. Valentina and Juliana followed, blue and red respectively.

The four coins laid in the middle of the table for a moment before a subtle vibration flowed through the wooden table. The coins began to glow a little bit and hovered off a few centimeters off the table. Juliana reached out and slammed her hand down over the red coin. It hit the table with a loud clatter and made several other students look over at them. Juliana ignores the stares as her hand starts to feel overly warm. 

“The table’s hot.” Juliana says. “Boiling.” When they pick up the coins and put them away, four circles are burnt on to the surface of the table. 

“What should we do?” Valentina asked. “There has to be a reason for all of this right?” 

“Of course, though I can’t think of any reason that would make sense. Perhaps we should return to the mines. They seem to be the source of all this.” 

“Jemma’s right.” Juliana agrees, glancing over at Jemma, then Kimberly and then Valentina. “Something happened to us and we need to find out what it is. We need to go back to the mines.” 

“So let’s go.” Kimberly says, pushing her uneaten lunch away from her and reaching for her backpack to pick it up. 

“What? Now?” Jemma looks aghast at the thought of skipping her afternoon classes. “We’ve got class.” 

“Normally, I’d agree with you Jemma,” Valentina said as she stood up with Kimberly and Juliana. “But nothing about today has been normal.” 

“We need answers, and you said yourself that we’ll find them in the mines. I doubt your grades will suffer if you miss one afternoon.” Juliana watched Jemma’s expression shift as she went over her options. 

“Oh alright.” Jemma stood up as well and followed the three other girls out of the cafeteria, though she didn’t look happy about it. 

“I can drive us to mines.” Kimberly offered and shook her keys in her hand. 

“I’ve got my bike.” Juliana gestured to the motorcycle parked in a corner near where Kim had parked her car that morning. 

“We’ll follow you then,” Valentina said before the other two could protest and lead Jemma to Kimberly’s car. Kimberly nodded at Juliana before following them as Juliana walked over to her bike. A few minutes later, Jemma sat in the back seat of Kimberly’s car and looked out the window to see the remains of her mother’s minivan sitting beside the train tracks as they drove past. The ball of anticipation that rested in the pit of her stomach grew tighter and Jemma just hoped that whatever they found would justify skipping school. 

Kimberly parked the car near a side entrance and she, Valentina, and Jemma climbed out of the car while Juliana turned her bike off and took off her helmet. Jemma felt the coin in her pocket grow warm as she followed Juliana and Valentina down a twisted, rocky path towards the spot Jemma had excavated Saturday night. Kimberly walked silently beside Jemma and Jemma tried to pretend that it didn’t make her nervous. While Jemma didn’t believe all of the rumors that had spread across the school in recent weeks about Kimberly, Jemma had been around Angel Grove long enough to know why no one had a problem with talking bad about Kimberly. Kimberly was popular and pretty and often, to be perfectly frank, a bully. And Jemma, well, she wasn’t too fond of walking into the woods beside the girl who had punched a football players tooth out. Yes, she knew that Ty had gotten his tooth put back, but that wasn’t as comforting, or amusing, as the students at the high school had thought. 

There’s already someone there when the four girls break through the treeline and the explosion site comes into view. One of the other girls from Saturday was there, Jemma was pretty sure her name was Daisy, and she seemed to be studying the exposed rock wall. In the daylight, the surface seemed darker than it had when they had found the coins. 

“I thought you guys might show up at some point.” 

“You’re Daisy, right?” Jemma asked as the group approached her. Daisy nodded her head. 

“Do you go to school with us?” Juliana asked, trying to place where she had seen Daisy around before the previous Saturday. 

Daisy laughed carelessly. “Sometimes.” 

“I guess it’s been a weird morning for you, too?” Kimberly crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Depends on your definition of weird.” Daisy tosses the rock she’d been playing with onto the ground. “Did I mean to jump over a train car this morning? No. Was it fun? Hell yeah.” 

“That does sound like more fun than my morning.” Jemma says quietly. Daisy looks over at her with an easy smile. Jemma has the sudden urge to twist the ends of her hair in hands, a nervous habit she’d thought she had gotten rid of. Daisy looks over curiously, an almost appreciative look in her eyes. Jemma’s stomach performs a somersault and she clears her throat. Daisy is smirking when she looks away. 

“Wasn’t there one more of us last night?” Daisy asks conversationally. 

“Yeah, what was her name? DeeDee?” Kimberly tilted her head to the left as she thought about the sixth girl that had been with them. Juliana looked up as she heard footsteps and saw the girl in question above them, standing nearly where she had been on Saturday before the rock slide. 

“Maybe we could ask her.” Juliana said and the other four girls turned their heads to look up at the girl wearing the yellow beanie. The girl looked back down at them for a moment, turned, and then ran. Seconds later she could be seen scurrying up the side of the mountain. “Or not.” 

“No way.” Daisy said and began chasing after the girl, laughing joyously as a single leap landed her on the ledge above them and she began climbing after the other girl. Kimberly followed right after and quickly caught up to Daisy. 

“Try to keep up!” Kimberly calls as she blows past Daisy on their climb up the mountain. Daisy laughs again and speeds up, obviously accepting the challenge. Valentina turns to look at Juliana. 

“Should we follow them?” 

“Probably,” Juliana looked up at the mountain. Kimberly was near the top now, as was the girl in the yellow beanie. Daisy trailed behind them, a few feet below the other two girls. “Dios mio I hope I don’t regret this.” 

Juliana and Valentina climbed the mountain face together, moving almost as one. Juliana felt like she could sense where Valentina was, even as the adrenaline of what they were doing took over her better sense. They climbed over the edge together and stood up straight just in time to see the small girl in the yellow beanie take a short running start and launch herself over the ravine. 

“What the fuck?” Daisy said. 

“I guess she really doesn’t want to talk to us.” Juliana said as she and Valentina moved closer. 

“That girl’s crazy.” Daisy jumped in place in for a moment, it almost looked like she was psyching herself up for something. That, of course, was true as a moment later she also jumped over the ravine. Daisy’s landing wasn’t as smooth as the other girl’s, but she did make it across and grabbed her leg. “I got her.” 

“Girl, what the hell?” The girl kicked her leg out to make Daisy let go. Daisy did and rolled away with a slight cough. The other four girls were standing near the edge of the ravine on the opposite side. 

“Jump over!” Daisy yelled out and picked herself up off the ground. The girl with the beanie took a seat on a nearby rock, clearly intending to watch the show. 

“Right, okay.” Kimberly looked over the edge of the ravine and swallowed. “Okay.” 

Kimberly backed up a few steps and then took a flying leap. It almost looked like she had jumped higher than the other two, and she landed further inland in a heap near the feet of the first girl. Daisy laughed and called out “Next!” 

Juliana looked over at Valentina who was still standing beside her. Jemma had taken a few steps back and was currently mumbling to herself. 

“Ladies first,” Juliana gestured lamely with one hand. 

“I don’t think now is the time for chivalry, but thanks.” Valentina laughed slightly. “Why don’t we jump together?” 

“Yeah, okay. Hey, Jemma.” Jemma stopped pacing and turned to look at her sort-of friend. “I’m gonna jump with Valentina, you follow us.” 

“That is a terrible idea,” Jemma protested immediately. 

“No, it’s gonna be fine. Just don’t look down.” With that, Juliana and Valentina made the leap across the ravine, crashing into the rocks together. Juliana spit blood out of her mouth as she stood back up again. 

“That was terrible advice!” Jemma calls. 

“Jemma, just jump. You’ll be fine.” Juliana called back, dusting herself off. 

“Yeah, c’mon Jem!” Daisy called cheerfully. Kimberly and Valentina echoed the cheer. The fifth girl stayed silent but a small smile graced her lips. 

“Okay, Jemma, okay. You can do this. It’s only fifty yards away, and a hundred yards down. Hitting the water that is most certainly below would only hurt for a moment. And break several bones. Oh I knew I shouldn’t have skipped school.” Jemma’s name was called again. She turned towards the revine, repeated the word ‘okay’ with increasing intensity. “This is an awful idea.” 

Then, Jemma jumped. For a moment, she felt free, weightless, like she was simply drifting across the sky rather than possibly risking her life. Then, Jemma realized that her trajectory was dipping to soon. She wouldn’t land on top of the rock on the other side, instead she was going to crash into the wall. The others yell as Jemma gets closer and closer, also realizing that Jemma was going to hit the wall. She did with a grunt, scrambling to pull herself up on pure instinct. Two sets of hands wrapped around her arms and hauled her up. 

“You made it,” Daisy said as she let go of Jemma’s arm. Juliana did the same on the other side. 

“I-I made it,” Jemma said in disbelief. “I made it!” She repeats it as a cheer and the others laugh. Jemma feels elated, still brimming with adrenaline and tries to turn to look back at the distance she had crossed. As she does, her foot slips off the edge of the cliff and she falls over with a scream. 

“JEMMA!” Five voices call, all of the girls diving towards the edge of the ledge in a vain attempt to catch Jemma before she fell out of reach. Juliana screamed Jemma’s name again. A splash reached their ears. 

“Is she dead? Please tell me she’s not dead.” Daisy said, pacing away from the ravine almost like she was scared to look over the edge. 

“JEMMA!” Juliana yelled again and waited for a moment. 

“THERE’S WATER DOWN HERE,” Jemma’s voice called back. “JUMP!” 

“Are you crazy?” Kimberly’s voice gradually rose in volume. Jemma couldn’t hear the whole sentence but thought she understood the general meaning. 

“TRUST ME, JUST JUMP.” Jemma called again. 

“Well,” Daisy came back up to the edge. “If she survived, there’s a good chance we will, too.” 

“You’re not seriously going to jump, are you?” Kimberly looked over at Daisy. Daisy shrugged her shoulders slightly and her lips pulled into a smirk. 

“Yup,” she popped the p and pointed at the girl with the yellow beanie. “Make sure crazy girl over there gets down here too.” Then Daisy did a front flip off the ledge and yelled the whole way down until another splash signaled that she had arrived at the bottom. 

“Show off.” Juliana muttered and stood up straight from leaning over the edge. She looked over at Kimberly and then to Valentina. 

“Together?” Valentina held out her hand hesitantly. Juliana took it and they both stepped up to the edge. Just before they jumped, Valentina turned to look at Kimberly. “See you down there.” 

Then it was only Kimberly and the last girl standing near the ledge. She was smiling when Kimberly turned to look at her but quickly schooled her face into a blank expression when she made eye contact with Kimberly. The girl turned and started to walk away and something in Kimberly clenched and held tightly. She couldn’t let this girl leave. 

“Wait, hey,” the girl turned back to Kim. “Can I get a sip of your water? I’m dying.” Kimberly looked at the water bottle she could see poking out of the side pocket on the other girls backpack. 

“Fine,” the girl pulled the bottle out and handed it to Kim. “Just don’t finish it.” 

“Thanks. And, I’m sorry.” Kimberly held the unopened bottle in one hand. 

“Sorry for what?” 

“This.” And Kimberly through her arms around the other girl and pulled them both over the ledge. 

Trini broke the surface of the water and coughed, forcefully shoving Kimberly away. 

“Seriously?” Trini questioned as she moved away from Kimberly. All six girls were wading in the water. Kimberly smiled sheepishly. 

“I didn’t think you’d just jump.” Kimberly was right, not that Trini would tell her that. 

“Um, is anyone else glowing?” Daisy questioned lightly. Trini looked down at her own body and saw the yellow glow surrounding her. “I’m black.” 

“You’re what?” At least three voices questioned. 

“I am.” Daisy spun in a circle like she was trying to see if the color went all the way around her body. “It’s the same as the coins.” 

“She’s right.” Juliana said, looking around. A red glow surrounded her, blue around Valentina, white for Jemma and pink for Kimberly. 

“Wait, I think I see something,” Valentina took a deep breath and dove under the water. 

“Valentina!” Kimberly called when Val remained under water for longer than should be possible. 

Juliana didn’t bother wasting time calling for her and instead dove after Valentina. It was difficult to see too far ahead of her, but the further down she swam the more Juliana realized that Valentina was nowhere in sight. It was as if she had disappeared. Juliana’s lungs were burning but she kept swimming down just in case she found Valentina. Juliana swam until she found herself looking down at a spot where the water rippled slightly. It was like looking up at the sun through the water, but Juliana was sure she was looking down. Curious, Juliana held her hand out and pressed against the surface. She felt air brush across her fingers on the other side. She could sense the others swimming around her and saw them push against the wall of water just as she had done. There was still no sign of Valentina. 

Just as Juliana was about to turn around and swim back towards the surface for a much needed breath of air, a hand shot out from the wall of water and gripped onto her wrist, pulling her down. Her head broke free and she took a deep breath, blinking to clear the water from her eyes. Once her vision was clear, Juliana realized that it was Valentina who had grabbed her wrist and that Juliana was now suspended upside down from the water. Valentina was still holding her wrist, looking up at her. 

“Valentina, what-” Juliana’s question cut off when gravity suddenly decided to work again and Juliana felt herself slip from the water. Valentina realized what was happening a second too late and couldn’t move out of the way. She ended up bracing Juliana’s fall and they landed against a cold rock, Valentina on her back with Juliana laying on top of her. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t worry, I did the same thing.” Valentina’s hands gripped Juliana’s hips for a second before letting go. Juliana pretended the tingles she felt were from the fall and not from being so close to Valentina, although she was sure it was actually a combination of the two. “We should probably move before the others fall through.” 

“Too late!” Kimberly’s voice was the only warning they had before the four other girls joined them in a heap on the floor. Juliana braced her hands on either side of Valentina’s head, pressing close to her as one of the other girls landed directly on her back. She grunted softly at the impact and could feel a puff of air against her lips. If she angled her had in just the right way, her lips would brush against Valentina’s. Juliana wasn’t sure how to react to that. 

“What is this place?” Jemma asked softly, a tone of awe in her voice. 

“I’d love to find out.” Juliana said, carefully angling her head away from Valentina. “As soon as y’all get off of us.” 

“Oh, sorry.” Jemma mumbled and was the first to climb out of the pile. 

“Did she really just say ‘y’all?’” Daisy said as she climbed to her feet as well. It seemed she was the one who had landed on top of Juliana and Valentina as when she moved, Juliana felt the weight lift off her back. Juliana climbed to her feet and held out a hand to help Valentina up. 

Trini stood quickly, distancing herself from Kimberly. She was sure her ears were tinged pink and hastily wrung out her beanie and put it back on to cover them up. She didn’t offer to help Kimberly off the ground, too focused on ignoring the way her stomach flipped when she had realized Kimberly had a hand on each of Trini’s thighs when they landed, and Trini had ended up straddling Kimberly’s waist. 

Kimberly didn’t comment on that as she stood, instead she reached out and touched the rock wall. “It’s vibrating.” 

“There’s something around this corner.” Juliana said and lead the group in the direction she had indicated. 

They paused in their tracks as a massive metal shape came into view. The metal was a dark grey color, symbols carved along the form. Rock faded into metal steps that lead to what looked like a doorway, though the door itself was closed. It was a spaceship, that was the only thing that Juliana could think to describe it as, that looked as if the rock had grown around it. 

“We’re dreaming, right? This is all a dream?” Daisy let out a sharp gasp as her coin suddenly grew exceedingly hot in her pocket and she scrambled to pull it out. The black gem was glowing brighter than it had ever before. As she looked up, she realized the others had pulled out their own coins and they stood in a rough line. Jemma stood to the far left, next to DeeDee or whatever her name was, then Juliana, Valentina, and Kimberly. Daisy stepped up and took her place at the end of the line next to Kimberly. They all held their coins up as they glowed brightly, waiting for they didn’t know what. 

Suddenly, the ship creaked and the doorway opened, metallic rings spinning around them as the dark path opened. The coin stopped glowing and the six girls stood silently. Juliana took a deep breath and stepped forward, up the stairs and into the ship. Valentina followed with Daisy right behind her and the other three trailing behind. 

The path they found was dimly lit and they walked slowly along it until they reached a passage that split into three paths. Directly in front of them was another door, and darkened hallways branched off on either side. Kimberly peered down one hallway and Trini looked down the other, blinking rapidly as she did so. She thought she saw a pair of yellow eyes looking back at her, but they had been too far apart to belong to a human, or any animal that Trini knew of for that matter. 

“This is like the beginning to every horror movie ever.” 

“Daisy, shut up.” 

“I’m just saying, this is usually the part where something jumps out and scares the shit out of everyone for the first time.” 

Kim let out an exasperated huff. Trini was sure she saw the yellow eyes again, closer this time. Just as she was about to voice her suspicion that they weren’t alone, a robotic voice reached her ears. 

“You’re here. Finally! I’ve been waiting for so long.” The six girls screamed, choosing flight over fight as a small, metal figure appeared from the hallway Trini had been looking down. “Wow you guys are so young, much younger than the last group. And all girls this time, how about that.” The robot creature chattered on, nonchalantly stretching it’s arm out and pulling the six girls back to the center of the hallway one at a time. 

“Jesh, can we stop with all the screaming. It’s like you’ve never seen a robot before. Oh wait, we’re missing one.” A metal hand wrapped around Trini’s ankle and she was dragged across the floor in a surprisingly gentle manner. “There we go. Six different coins. Six different colors. Six different colored kids.” 

“What are you?” Juliana asked as Trini scrambled to her feet and joined them. 

“My name is Alpha-5, I’m an intergalactic, interplanetary assistant to the active Ranger team.” 

“What?” 

“Robot helper.” Alpha-5 sounded oddly amused for something that shouldn’t have emotions. “And I’ve waited a very long time to meet you.” 

“Okay, I’m definitely dreaming.” Daisy pinched herself, closed her eyes and then opened them again. Alpha-5 stared at her with a blank expression. 

“Don’t worry, Zordon can explain this all to you. Follow me.” Alpha-5 turned and gestured for the group to follow him through the doorway that opened as he approached it. The girls followed warily. 

As they stepped into the space, the lights came on a revealed a large, open room. In the center, a platform with six steps and a dazzling display of light in the center commanded most of the space. The wall was oddly pixelated, and the pixels began to move as the six teenagers stepped into the room completely. The ship shook and the six girls leaned on each other for balance. 

Suddenly, a face appeared in the pixels on the wall, shaking from side to side and speaking in a harsh, alien language. Alpha-5 cried joyously, “Zordon! It’s Zordon. Zordon - they don’t know who you are.” 

“These are the Power Rangers?” Zordon spoke in English now and his head moved along the wall so he was closer to the six teenagers. “These children?” 

“Not children. Teenagers. It seems to be an extended period of time between adolescence and adulthood.” Alpha-5 informed Zordon. 

“Time-out,” Daisy held her hands up in the shape of T. 

“What the hell is going on here?” Kimberly demanded. 

“And they all have the coins?” Zordon asked Alpha-5, ignorining Kim’s question. 

“Obviously. The ship recognized them, didn’t it?” Alpha-5 waved one robotic hand at the six girls. “Meet the new Ranger team.” 

“What the hell is a Ranger?” Kim whispered lowly. 

“I don’t know and I don’t care. I’m getting out of here.” Trini looked over her shoulder at Kimberly who nodded her head. They counted down silently and then bolted for the door while Zordon and Alpha-5 were distracted. The metal doors slammed closed as they approached. 

“Sorry, you can’t leave.” Alpha-5 did sound a little apologetic. Zordon did not. 

“You must stay. You must prepare.” Zordon sounded nearly afraid. Something about his tone set Juliana on edge. 

“Prepare for what?” Juliana could sense a growing apprehension in the room. She didn’t know why, but she had the urge to look at the other five girls. She felt like she needed to see them and gauge their reactions. When she looked at them out of the corner of her eye, Juliana could see the tense way each of the other girls held themselves. They cast quick glances around the room like they were expecting something else to jump out.

“The end of the world,” Zordon intoned in a sage voice. “A catastrophe is coming, and the six of you are the only ones with a chance to stop it.” 

“What are you talking about?” Valentina said as she stepped up next to Juliana. Their hands brushed together. Juliana moved slightly to the left and ignored the warm feeling that spread through her chest when Valentina glanced at her. “What catastrophe?” 

“Rita Repulsa. A vicious woman with unbelievable power. A long time ago, she came to this planet in search of the Zeo Crystal, the source of all life on Earth. My team and I died protecting the Crystal from her and hoped she would be destroyed by an incoming meteor. She survived but fell into the sea. Now she has been awoken again, and it will only be a matter of time before she comes for the crystal again.” Zordon’s head moved so he was centered in the room again and looking at the six girls. 

“We’ve been waiting a very long time for you to arrive.” Alpha-5 added cheerily.

“How long?” Jemma asked. 

“What’s today? Monday?” The six girls nodded. “Then sixty-five billion years.” 

“And now we’re running out of time.” Zordon spoke again. “Rita is a plague to this planet. She will stop at nothing to get the Crystal and she will only leave destruction in her wake.” 

“And you want us to stop her?” Daisy sounded skeptical, an emotion echoed on the faces of the other girls. 

“You have to stop her. No one else can.” 

“And what if we don’t? What happens then?” Valentina took a slight step forward as Zordon sighed. She felt a rush of wind that made her eyes water and she closed them tightly. 

When Valentina opened her eyes, she could see only darkness. Grey clouds swirling overhead like a tornado waiting to take shape. Dust filled the air and faint screams could be heard in the distance. Her body felt as if it was on fire, burning from the inside out. Valentina screamed in pain and heard that scream echoed back to her five times. She forced her eyes closed again and willed the pain to end. 

All six girls landed none too gently on the floor of the ship, coughing and gasping like they had after swimming through the ravine. 

“What the hell was that?” Daisy demanded as she stood on shaky legs. 

“That is what Rita will bring here, if you do not defeat her.” Zordon’s voice was grave but his face remained expressionless. 

“We didn’t sign up for this,” Kimberly leaned against the wall behind her. 

“You couldn’t sign up. The coins chose you. They’ve never been wrong before.” Alpha-5 spoke in a softer tone than Zordon had. Alpha could sense the rising panic in the girls but wasn’t sure what he could do to diffuse the tension. 

“They are this time.” Trini scoffed. “I don’t know what a Power Rangers is and I don’t care. We have the coins, the ship is our now. Which means, if I walk up to that door, it will open form me, right?” 

“Yes, of course.” Zordon indicated his head like he was nodding but it was difficult to tell. 

“Then I’m leaving.” Trini turned on her heel and walked out, pausing momentarily at the door to wait for it to open again. One by one, the others followed until only Juliana was left in the room. 

“Juliana,” she turned as Zordon called her, wondering how he knew her name. “You have to make them come back. You are the Red Ranger, the leader. The world needs you to step up. Your team is this planet's only chance for survival.” 

“I’ll try.” Juliana said lowly. “But I won’t force them to come back here.” Juliana didn’t even know for sure if she would be coming back. 

“You need to convince them, soon. Rita will regain her strength quickly.” 

“11 months-sorry-days. We have 11 days before Rita will be strong enough to attack.” Alpha-5 chimed in. 

“No pressure.” Juliana mumbled as she turned to leave. She didn’t want to believe that all of this was real. She almost felt like she was still dreaming, but the pain she had felt in that vision, that was a type of pain that couldn’t be imagined. She had felt it right down to her soul, not just the physical pain but the emotional anguish with knowing that she had somehow failed. That the pain the world felt was her fault, because she didn’t even try to stop it. Juliana exited the ship and decided she had few options for this. She wanted to stop Rita, if Rita was even real, but she knew she couldn’t do it alone. She needed to find the other girls and talk to them. A task which suddenly became much easier as Juliana rounded a corner and found all five of them standing beneath the pool of water they had entered through earlier. 

“You’re doing this?” Jemma asked as Juliana approached. 

“I don’t know.” Juliana replied. “It doesn’t feel real.” 

“That’s because it’s not.” Trini snapped, looking through her backpack. She wasn’t sure her headphones would survive another trip through the water. 

“I’m sorry, but who even are you?” Daisy held her hands up in a ‘woah, take it easy’ gesture as Trini glared at her. 

“Her name’s DeeDee. She’s been at Angel Grove for a few months. We have English together.” Kimberly supplied, overly confident. Trini rolled her eyes. 

“My name is Trini, I’ve been at Angel Grove for over a year now and we have Biology together. Good talk.” Kimberly looked away from Trini’s hard glare. “You don’t seriously believe in all this, do you?” Her question was directed at Juliana. 

“I don’t know, but if what we saw is really coming, I can’t just sit by and watch it happen. For my family, if nothing else.” Juliana sighed slightly. “Zordon said I’m the Red Ranger, which means I’m the leader, but I won’t force any of you to do this. I’ll be here tomorrow afternoon at three to hopefully get some answers about all of this. If you want answers too, you’ll meet me at the top of the ravine tomorrow.” 

Juliana looked at the five girls and then crouched low, directly under the water. She pushed off roughly and soared up into the water and out the other side. A splash landed on Jemma and Valentina as they watched her go. 

“Right, of course, the way we got in is the way we get out.” Jemma shook her head ruefully. “I should have thought of that.” 

Soon, the cave was empty and the six girls parted ways for the evening, each wondering what the other five would be doing come three o’clock the next day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to this has been absolutely amazing so far. Y'all are the best! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see ya next Friday for chapter 3. 
> 
> (Side note: i'm not used to responding to comments here but I do read all of them. If you want to talk about this fic in particular, please jump on over to tumblr and shoot me a message there)


	3. Training Begins

Daisy had expected to be the last one to arrive at the ravine just after three o’clock that afternoon, but only half of the Rangers were waiting for her. Juliana was standing near the ledge with her back to the forest. Daisy could tell that her arms were crossed over her chest and the angle of her head indicated that she was looking down at the water below the cliffside. Valentina and Kimberly sat on a couple of boulders a few feet away from Juliana, neither of them speaking. As Daisy approached, Juliana’s head turned and she looked over her shoulder, followed a moment later by both Kimberly and Valentina glancing up at Daisy as well. It was an oddly synchronous movement almost like they had sensed Daisy coming. Maybe they had, Daisy had felt a pulling sensation in her stomach the closer she got to the cliffs so maybe there was something about being Rangers that connected them. Not that Daisy had any clue what being a Ranger meant. 

“Been waiting long?” Daisy asked as she claimed a seat near Kimberly and Valentina. Juliana resumed looking at the water. 

“Not really, just a few minutes,” Kimberly answered. Her fingers were clenched against her thighs, Daisy thought that she looked anxious. 

“Juliana’s been here longer than us,” Valentina turned to look at the aforementioned girl. A contemplative expression rolled across Valentina’s face as she looked at Juliana and she squinted slightly. Her head tilted slightly and then her lips pulled into the barest hint of a smile. Daisy looked at Juliana too, trying to find whatever it was Valentina had seen. All Juliana could see was dark hair and tense shoulders. 

“What about the other two? Jemma and Trini?” Daisy asked, looking both for confirmation that she had gotten their names right and that they would join them in jumping off the cliff again. 

“They’re coming,” Juliana said, her voice wasn’t very loud but it carried to the other three girls easily. 

“Are you sure?” Valentina asked. She didn’t sound doubtful, really, but Daisy could hear the underlying uncertainty in her voice. 

Juliana nodded. “I can feel them, they’re almost here.” 

Valentina looked intrigued at Juliana’s words, but before she could question Juliana on what she meant Jemma and Trini emerged from the tree line. That proved Daisy’s theory that they could sense one another at least a little bit.

“So sorry we’re late.” Jemma apologized as they approached. Trini didn’t look nearly as apologetic as Jemma did. In fact, Trini looked like she would rather have been anywhere else than standing near the edge of a cliff with five virtual strangers. 

“We’re just glad you came,” Juliana turns to them fully for the first time since Daisy arrived. Her shoulders are still tense but Daisy can’t read anything in her expression. “Both of you.” 

Trini nodded her head slightly, tucking her hands into the pockets of her yellow jacket. Daisy looked around at the group and noticed that they were all wearing at least a little bit of their color. Kimberly had a pink choker around her neck, Valentina’s shirt was blue, Jemma wore a white sweater but it looked like she had a colored shirt on underneath it. Juliana wore a pair of red converse and Daisy herself had worn her favorite black leather jacket. Daisy wondered it anyone else had noticed how they color-coded themselves. 

“You think there’s another way into this place that doesn’t involve jumping down there?” Kimberly asked as they all stepped up the ledge. Daisy briefly wondered if she should leave her phone on the ridge, not sure if it would survive another swim down to the ship. 

“If there is, we’ll find it,” Valentina answered. “I have a feeling we’ll be spending a lot of time down there.” 

“Do we even know what we’re doing here?” Trini asked, sounding skeptical. 

“That’s what we’re here to find out.” Juliana glance over at each of them and then looked back at the water. “If you want to leave, it’s okay.” There was something about Juliana’s tone that was reassuring and calm, but at the same time encouraged action. It reminded Daisy of when siblings were adopted into different families and before they left, they promised that they would always be together. It was like Juliana was offering them an out, but even if they took it, they’d still be part of the team. 

“I think we’re meant to be in this together,” Daisy commented lightly. She peeked over the edge of the ravine and felt the first pulse of adrenaline in her veins. The anticipation for the coming jump almost had her bouncing on her feet, but she stayed still. 

“Are we really doing this?” Jemma questioned. Daisy could see her also looking over the edge on the other side of the group. A burst of something passed through them, for a second Daisy thought she saw a black glow around her hands but it was gone when she blinked. 

Juliana took a deep breath, “We’re doing this.” 

Juliana jumped first and the others followed. Daisy refrained from doing another flip off the cliff as she jumped since she jumped at the same time as Trini who was standing right beside. She didn’t think Trini would appreciate getting kicked in the head. Just as before, Daisy felt the wind rush around her and spread her arms out to enjoy the free fall. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and Daisy wanted to laugh. The water below grew closer and closer with every second and instinct had Daisy pulling her feet together and crossing her arms over her chest in an x shape just before she hit the water. 

After a moment of disorientation, Daisy began to follow the trail of bubbles leading to the hidden entrance to the caves below. She tried to land gracefully after she slipped out of the water but only managed to avoid hitting her head on the rocks. The impact still knocked the wind out of her for a moment so she wasn’t able to move in time to avoid getting landed on. Daisy released another puff of air as Jemma’s knee collided with her stomach. Jemma shifted quickly, but she was unbalanced and ended up falling into Daisy’s chest again, but at least without causing any more bodily harm. 

“I’m so sorry,” Jemma’s hands land on Daisy’s shoulder and Daisy does her best to ignore the fact that Jemma is essentially straddling her thighs. 

“No harm, no foul,” Daisy shrugged, “but if I have a bruise on my stomach, it’s your fault.” 

Jemma rolled her eyes and stood up, offering her hand to Daisy to help her up as well. 

Valentina followed Juliana into the ship, impressed that Juliana seemed to remember the way to the room they had found Zordon in. Although she tried not to, Valentina couldn’t help but study Juliana a little bit. Juliana walked and spoke with this kind of unspoken, easy confidence that she seemed to be unaware of. Even though she must have been just as wary about this situation as Valentina felt, Juliana’s expression showed nothing but a cool acceptance. Valentina couldn’t help but wonder why Juliana seemed so intent on projecting an unbothered facade, but she knew that’s exactly what it was. A facade. And Valentina was dying to know what Juliana was actually feeling. 

“I told you they’d be back.” Alpha-5’s cheery voice pulled Valentina from her musings about Juliana and she refocused on the ship. Zordon’s face appeared on the pixelated wall. If he was surprised, or happy, to see them, his face didn’t show it. “They’re Power Rangers.” 

“Yes,” Zordon’s voice wasn’t nearly as cheery as Alpha’s. “At least they will be.” 

“Question,” Daisy raised her hand slightly. “What the hell is a Power Ranger?” 

“The Power Rangers,” Zordon began lowly, “are an elite team of warriors meant to protect the Zeo Crystal and the lives of those created by the Zeo Crystal.” 

“Thanks, that helps none.” Daisy plopped down on the steps leading down to the main platform. 

“What’s the Zeo Crystal?” Jemma asked, also taking a seat. The others, feeling that a long story was about to begin, followed suit. Zordon, watching them closely, saw that they had sat in a type of formation based on the roles they would eventually play on their team. Juliana was centered on the steps, sitting on the lowest one. Valentina was one step behind her and slightly to the right. Trini sat behind Valentina but angled in so she sat behind Valentina’s left shoulder rather than the right. Daisy and Jemma mirrored them behind Juliana’s left shoulder and Kimberly sat at the top of the diamond-like shape. Perhaps this team wouldn’t be as hopeless as Zordon had initially thought. 

“The Zeo Crystal is an ancient and powerful artifact. The fragments of the original crystal are spread out across the universe and provide life to every planet that has a Crystal. Every living being on this planet is only alive because the Zeo Crystal fills the world with living energy.” 

“That sounds almost dangerous.” Jemma comments, brow furrowed in consideration. 

“It’s a lot of power,” Juliana adds lowly. 

“Yes, a power that could cause unthinkable destruction in the wrong hands and power that is coveted by many.” Zordon’s voice was somber and serious. “Eons ago, long before even I lived, a council of elders from the planet Zoltar created the Power Coins using the power of a dying planet. Seven coins were made, each color signifying a different role in the hierarchy of the Ranger teams. Once the coins were made, the Council sent them out across the universe in search of hosts for the power. Once the hosts were found, the first team of Power Rangers formed. 

“The Rangers were granted multiple abilities from the Power Coins and they became a powerful force of good in the universe. Those who were alive lived peacefully under their protection for there was hardly a foe strong enough to defeat all seven Rangers. As time passed, the Rangers too grew old and passed their power on to the next generation of hosts. Wars began and ended and many Rangers perished in the line of duty, but those who were worthy never stopped fighting to protect the Zeo Crystal and life as they knew it. Until the last Ranger team was formed.” 

“What happened?” Valentina asked, leaning forward with her chin propped up on her fist, her elbow resting on her knee. 

“The Green Ranger, Rita Repulsa, had been a Power Ranger for longer than most. When my team formed, Rita had already been a Ranger for several years. She had seen many wars and travesties. She grew jaded. She betrayed us, with the power of the green coin and the magic inherent in her species, she was too powerful. We couldn’t defeat her. My team died defending the Crystal here on Earth from her. I thought Rita had perished in the conflict as well, but it seems the power in the green coin preserved her form all these years.” 

A heavy beat of silence passed after the conclusion of Zordon’s tale. Valentina replayed his words in her head. Power, war, loss, defeat. Valentina had felt loss before, she remembered watching cancer destroy her mother right before her eyes, and she remembered feeling powerless. There wasn’t anything she could have done to help her mother, she knew, but that hadn’t stopped her from wishing and prayed that she could have helped. Listening to Zordon, Valentina heard the same heavy emotion in his voice. It was obvious to her that Zordon wished things could be different, but was resigned to the fact that they weren’t. 

“So, when the coins chose us, we inherited your war?” Trini asked. Valentina couldn’t tell is she sounded angry, annoyed, or just plain shocked. It was probably a combination of all three. 

“Yes, you did.” Zordon sounded almost ashamed. “It is up to you to stop Rita or she will destroy all life on this planet.” 

Valentina shuddered slightly as she remembered the vision Zordon had shown them the day before. The pain and the burning she had felt, the smell of rotting flesh. The memory alone nearly made her sick. 

“And we only have ten days to prepare,” Alpha-5 spoke up suddenly. All the girls, except Juliana who already knew about the deadline, stared at him. He blinked the left eye a fraction of a second behind the right. It was unsettling. 

“Ten days?” Kimberly said, aghast. “That’s it?” 

“This suddenly seems a lot more impossible,” Daisy mumbled. 

“Well, I suppose we should get started then since we seem to have a deadline.” Jemma stood suddenly, looking expectantly at the other five girls. Valentina was surprised to see Jemma seemingly gung-ho about the situation, but then she remembered that Jemma had set off the explosion in the mines that had started this mess. Perhaps Jemma was more reckless than she seemed. 

“If you want to have even a chance against Rita, you’ll need to morph.” Alpha informed them as they stood up. 

“I’m sorry, we need to what?” Juliana raised an eyebrow in question as she stepped down from the steps. Valentina stepped up beside her and they made eye contact for a moment. Juliana looked away first. 

“You need to morph,” Zordon informed them and his head slid across the wall until he was centered before a glowing pit of color ringed by six color-coded platforms. “To call upon your Ranger powers, and use your connection to the Morphing Grid and each other to protect and power yourselves.” 

“Protect ourselves how?” Daisy questioned as she walked around the pit to the pedestal that had a black outline of footprints. 

“By calling upon your armor, and eventually your weapons,” Zordon informed them and then asked that they each take their place. 

Valentina stepped onto the blue platform slowly. The light emanating from the platform increased as she did and Valentina looked up to see if the others did the same. Her eyes found Juliana again, positioned across from her at what seemed to be the head of the circle. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kimberly and Trini make eye contact as well, but she couldn’t tell if Jemma or Daisy did the same. 

“What’s with all the staring? Is that a human thing?” Alpha-5 asked. Valentina guessed Jemma and Daisy had been looking at one another as well. 

“Focus on each other, think of nothing else.” Zordon’s voice sounded. “The six of you are connected to each other now. Find that connection and use it to pull your armor to the surface. It’s already within you, you just need to call it out.” 

The light in the center of the pit pulsed slightly. Valentina could see the energy moving within the Morphing Grid, swirling and tangling together. For some reason, she expected to see all of their colors mixing and blending together, but each strand of color stayed in its own space. She could see the blue swirl of energy that she knew was her power brush against the other colors but not mixing with it. Valentina closed her eyes and tried to forget the colors and focus on the energy. She could feel her wet hair being blown off her neck and her clothes moved in an invisible gust of wind. A light formed before her, blinding even though she had her eyes closed. For a moment, she felt like she couldn’t breathe properly. Something was pushing against her chest from the inside. 

The wind stopped and the light faded just as quickly as it had appeared. Valentina opened her eyes and looked around at the others. Other than looking a little windblown, Valentina noticed faintly that the wind and heat from the light had dried her hair and clothes, the others looked the same as they had before trying to morph. 

“Did it work?” Trini asked as she looked over her arms and legs. 

“No,” there was no mistaking the disappointment in Zordon’s voice. “You’ll have to train without armor for now.” 

“Zordon is that the best-” 

“They need to be ready, Alpha, armor or no. Take them to the pit.” Zordon faded back into the wall. 

“Okay then,” Alpha’s robotic hands clapped together with a clang, “Follow me.” 

Valentina stepped off her pedestal and followed the short robot out of the command center and down the hall with the others. 

“Hey,” Kimberly’s quiet voice reached Valentina’s ears, “I’m sorry about the DeeDee thing.” 

There was no response from Trini but a slight quickening of her pace. 

“Good talk,” Kimberly mumbled. Valentina held in a small laugh and continued walking in step with Juliana and Jemma. 

Alpha-5 lead them back out of the ship towards a mostly flat area of the cave and proclaimed loudly, “This is the Pit. We’ll be using this for your combat training.” 

“Combat training?” 

“Oh hell yeah,” Daisy sounded significantly more excited than Jemma. 

“Rita won’t be alone when she attacks. She’ll have an army with her, an army of putties.” Alpha-5 explained as he waited for the six Rangers in training to jump down from the ledge and into the pit proper. 

“Putties?” Juliana asked after she landed, the others quickly following her down. 

“Putties. Rita’s minions, mostly mindless rock drones, but they can be deadly in droves. They’ll do anything to complete the mission Rita gives them.” Alpha gestured with one hand and an image of a grotesque rock monster appeared behind him. He gestured for the Rangers to get a closer look at the hologram. 

“That’s it?” Daisy asked as she circled the hologram. “How hard does it hit?” 

“Hard,” Alpha-5 answered. “See for yourself. You’ll be training against these holograms, they hit just like the real thing.” 

“Daisy?” Jemma asked a note of concern in her voice. “You’re not seriously going to fight this thing by yourself are you?” 

“Trust me, Jemma,” Daisy replied and gestured for the others to step back. They did, following Alpha’s advice to climb back onto the ledge above them. “I know what I’m doing.” 

Valentina settled on the rock ledge beside Juliana and she felt oddly aware of Juliana herself. She could sense Kimberly, Trini, and Jemma as well, and Daisy down below them, but not as much as she could feel Juliana. She thought back to the energies she had seen in the morphing grid and wondered if the blue and red strands had truly been closer together than the others or if the red strand was simply bigger, stronger than the other five colors. Valentina moved her hand slightly and it brushed against Juliana’s that was resting just beside her. Juliana glanced over at her for a moment and then looked towards the ground again. Valentina expected her to move her hand away like she had before they tried to morph, but Juliana’s hand stayed where it was. 

“This is going to end badly, isn’t it?” Jemma asked softly, pulling Valentina from her thoughts. Valentina leaned forward a bit to look around Juliana to the other girls. Trini and Kimberly sat on the other side of Jemma, not looking at each other but Valentina could sense a bit of tension between them. 

“Daisy said she knows what she’s doing,” Juliana’s voice was soft but an undercurrent of authority was there, “We should trust her.” 

That was easier said than done, how could they trust a stranger? But then, Valentina thought, they weren’t really strangers anymore. They were a team now, at least they were supposed to be. Valentina wasn’t even sure they were friends yet. 

“Staring simulation,” Alpha’s voice intoned and the five Rangers on the ledge focused their attention on the pit again. 

The hologram began to move, the image flickering slightly as the puttie repositioned itself into a fighting stance. Daisy tracked its movement with her eyes, seeing where the puttie carried its weight. The monster towered over her, it looked like it would be too top-heavy to move quickly, a theory that was quickly proven wrong as it charged towards Daisy. The puttie’s large fist slammed against the rock wall as Daisy dove out of the way, rolled and climbed to her feet again. 

The puttie turned away from the dent it had created in the rock with a harsh grunt and charged for Daisy again. Daisy ducked the hit and then tried to strike upwards at the Puttie’s head. Her fist collided with solid feeling rock, letting her know that the Puttie was indeed more than just a hologram, and the Puttie snapped it’s head back. An angry roar filled the cage and it swiped at Daisy again. Daisy refused to go on the defensive and stood her ground, blocking the Puttie’s strike and preparing for one of her own when the Puttie’s right fist collided with her abdomen. 

Daisy flew across the pit and hit the smoothed rock wall, groaning. The Puttie roared again and charged. Daisy, still recovering from her impact with the wall, would have been toast if Alpha hadn’t terminated the hologram before it could make contact with her again. 

“Okay,” Daisy coughed as the others jumped down from the ledge and moved to check on her. “Those things hit like a fucking train.” 

“We would know,” Kimberly said cheekily, drawing a laugh from the other five. Daisy groaned at clutched at her ribs. 

“Don’t make me laugh, Hart,” Daisy accepted the hand Jemma offered to help her up. She slipped her arm over Jemma’s shoulders as she regained her balance and let herself enjoy the slight blush that covered Jemma’s cheeks. “At least not for a few minutes.” 

“A few minutes?” Juliana said. “A hit like that should have knocked you out.” The others looked at her, surprised at the conviction in her voice. Juliana cleared her throat and didn’t look any of them in the eye. 

“It probably would have,” Daisy admitted as she eased away from Jemma. “If I didn’t have superpowers, which apparently include accelerated healing.” 

“Is that a power we have?” Valentina’s question was directed towards Alpha-5 but it was Zordon’s voice that gave the answer. 

“The Power Coins do give you some enhancements, yes,” Zordon’s voice echoed in the pit, “You should feel stronger, faster, your endurance will improve even more over time and the healing factor decrease recovery times.” 

“So we have super strength, speed, endurance and healing,” Trini summarized. Zordon sighed as if he was annoyed by the humans oversimplifying the complex abilities of the Power Coins, but agreed that Trini’s summary was accurate. 

“Which means you’ll be able to train as hard as you would if you had your armor,” Alpha-5 said cheerily. 

“No,” Daisy was stretching out her abdomen and marveling at the absence of pain she felt. The other Rangers turned to her, waiting for her to continue. “You never go all out the first day. None of you have any training. At least today, we need to cover the basics.” 

“You need to be as prepared-” 

“We need to fight without hurting ourselves,” Daisy interrupted Zordon, glaring at the ceiling as if he could see her. For all she knew, maybe he could. 

“Daisy’s right,” Juliana’s voice again had that low current of authority that pulled the Ranger's attention to her. “Basics first.” 

“Fine,” Zordon agreed, though he didn’t sound happy about the idea. “Basics first.” His voice disappeared abruptly. 

“Don’t worry, he’ll be a lot happier once Rita’s gone,” Alpha-5 said encouragingly. “Let’s get started with those basics.” 

Six new holograms appeared, thankfully not Putties. They were just replicas of sparring stands, models of the upper body held down by weight and secured by a metal bar. A seventh, smaller stand also appeared. Alpha moved to the smaller stand and gestured for the Rangers to head to one of their own as well. 

“Why did you want to fight the Puttie?” Valentina asked Daisy as they walked towards the stands. The Rangers weren’t aware of it, but they naturally formed the same diamond formation that they had used on the stairs again. 

“I didn’t think any of you knew how to fight. I’m a black belt in taekwondo.” Daisy shrugged like it was an everyday thing and not the result of years of hard work and training. “I thought I could take him.” 

“You should probably be resting,” Jemma said from her own stand. Daisy turned to look over her shoulder at Jemma. 

“I’ll rest tonight.” 

Jemma looked like she wanted to argue that Daisy rest right then, but Juliana called her attention to the front so they could begin. The argument would have been futile anyway, all of them knew that if Rita was really coming for them, they didn’t have time to waste. 

Alpha lead them through a series of movements against the sparring dummies. It seemed that they didn’t need much instruction, their bodies moved on instinct. It only took a few repetitions for each combination of strikes to feel natural, the six Rangers could move through them all easily enough once they got the motions down. The difference came in combining the moves together. The examples Alpha provided didn’t feel right to each of them, which Daisy thought was natural. They would all have different fighting styles, want to use the combinations differently. 

Juliana finally told Alpha to stop showing them all the different combinations possible and instead had the Rangers pair up. Daisy was unsurprised, and somewhat amused when Valentina paired herself with Juliana. There was some kind of connection there, Daisy was sure, something that went beyond whatever the Coins had done to connect them. Of course, the same thing could be said about Kimberly and Trini, who Daisy was highly amused to see paired up. The tension between them, Daisy could tell, was mostly thinly veiled sexual tension. Daisy wouldn’t be surprised if the two pairs eventually became two couples. This would leave her and Jemma as the odd ones out, but Daisy wasn’t sure she minded that so much. 

Once the three pairs began sparring in earnest, it was easy to see their fighting styles emerge. Daisy, with her background in taekwondo, showed the most outright skill but her actual style was fairly laid back. Jemma was too hesitant at the beginning, but with Daisy’s encouragement started to go for the areas that would cause the most damage with the least amount of hits. Trini moved quickly, her strikes short but harsh before she moved out of reach. Kimberly seemed to struggle a bit in the close quarters, Daisy got the feeling that Kimberly would be incorporating acrobatics into her fighting style. Valentina’s style was fluid, not as quick as Trini but her movement just the slightest bit more graceful. Daisy wasn’t sure if Valentina had a background in music or not, but Valentina fought like some of the dancers who took karate classes to improve dexterity. Juliana, her style was harder for Daisy to pin down. At first, it seemed that Juliana was all brawler, heavy, repeated hits with each one just as strong as the last. A moment later it looked like Juliana was slowing down, shaking herself out of something, until Valentina landed a good strike against her and they started up again. 

They switched partners often so that by the end of the day all six Rangers had sparred against one another for at least a little bit. When Juliana finally called them to stop, they were all exhausted, sweaty, and covered in bruises. They were also angry and annoyed with each other. It was a difficult situation, to begin with, and now on top of dealing with the Power Coins themselves, six strangers had to learn to be a team in a little over a week. Six strangers with different comfort zones, tempers and situations. 

Trini had gone back to ignoring Kimberly, a result of the punches that may have been thrown a little too hard while they sparred, which only served to annoy Kimberly. Kimberly then took out her aggression by snapping at anyone who breathed the wrong way, which led to her telling Jemma to stop babbling, though Kimberly was anything but kind about it. Daisy had stepped in to try and diffuse things which turned Kimberly’s ire onto her. Daisy wasn’t going to let that slide and so she fired back at Kimberly. The cycle continued until Valentina stepped in, somehow staying calm in the emotional turmoil, and ordered the two girls to back off. They needed space, Valentina had said. They needed to go home and cool off, alone. 

The girls had gathered their things together in silence, stomping out of the ship without responding to Juliana’s reminder to be there tomorrow at the same time for more training. Juliana wasn’t sure if they would show up again or not. She decides to let them be and enters the command center. 

Juliana moves over towards the morphing grid. She sits in the empty space between two of the pedestals, dangling her legs over the edge and looking into the swirl of lights in the center. Her thoughts roll back to when they had tried to morph earlier. She had felt the power that the coin had given her, in a tight knot in her chest. She had felt that power wanting to be released, but she didn’t know how to reach it. She had looked to the morphing grid for answers, out of instinct or desperation, she wasn’t sure. All she had seen was colorful energies touching but never mixing. She thought that the energy she saw might have held the key to morphing, but until they actually morphed she couldn’t be sure. She almost wanted Zordon to appear so she could ask him about it, but it seemed that Zordon had retired to whatever he did when the Rangers weren’t around. 

“You always look like you're deep in thought,” Juliana looked to her right as Valentina sat down beside her. She lifted one eyebrow slightly at the other girl, silently asking why she was still there. Juliana had thought that Valentina left when the others did. “I didn’t feel like going home yet.” 

Juliana nodded her head, smiling slightly, and turned back to the morphing grid. “What did you see in there earlier?” 

“Colors,” Valentina looked at the morphing grid as well, inching a little closer to Juliana. “Our colors, I mean. All together, but still apart.” 

“Me, too.” Juliana moved her leg slightly, her knee bumped against Valentina’s. “Why didn’t we morph?” 

“I think our colors are still too far apart if that makes any sense.” Valentina pulled a hand through her hair, brushing a few of the tangles out. Juliana realized that Valentina had taken her hair down from their training session and now seemed to be in the process of braiding it back. “There’s too much space between us, and I think the Coins sense that.” 

“How can you tell?” Juliana shifted slightly, pulling one leg up and bending her knee to rest her arm on as she turned and leaned back against the pedestal. From that angle, she could see Valentina’s hands skillfully twisting her hair together. 

“I saw it, in our colors or the strands that represent us.” Valentina finishes braiding her hair and lets it fall across her shoulder. “The pink and yellow weren’t touching at all, each other or any of the other colors. The black one was kind of like that, too, but closer to the rest of us. Blue and white were closer together but not touching each other. They both brushed against red though.” 

“Brushed but didn’t mix.” Something about the way Valentina was looking at Juliana felt significant. Juliana found herself focusing on Valentina’s eyes. They were blue, like her coin, but lighter. A vibrant sky blue rather than a deep ocean blue. Juliana wondered what it would feel like to get lost in Valentina’s eyes but she wouldn’t let herself experience it, no matter how much she wanted to. 

Valentina stared back at Juliana with the same intensity, eyes roving over the features of Juliana’s face, tracing the shape of her lips, her eyes, her nose, and cheekbones. Following the curve of a loose strand of hair that framed the left side of Juliana’s face. Valentina was leaning to the side a bit, towards Juliana, but wasn’t aware of that until Juliana suddenly cleared her throat and looked towards the morphing grid again. Valentina sat up straight again and looked to the morphing grid as well, but kept most of her attention on Juliana. 

“What do you think we should do?” Valentina asked after a stretch of silence that wasn’t uncomfortable but wasn’t quite comfortable either. “I mean, we need the colors to mix so we can morph, right? How are we going to do that?” 

“I don’t know,” Juliana pulled her Coin out of her pocket and studying the red gem. Zordon said the Red Ranger is the leader, but Juliana didn’t feel like a leader then. She didn’t even feel like a Ranger. She felt like she did when she was little before the twins were born when she didn’t know if she’d get enough to eat that night. She felt scared and alone and in way over her head. She felt like this was all a bad dream. 

“Guess we’ll have to figure it out together, then,” Valentina said softly. Juliana glanced over at her again, sure that somehow Valentina knew what she was feeling. And she knew that Valentina felt the same way, she could almost see it in her, now that Juliana knew what to look for. The slight drop to Valentina’s shoulders, the cloudiness of her eyes, the way she held herself back just the slightest bit. Valentina, despite her inherent openness, still felt alone. That realization felt wrong to Juliana. Something inside her told her that they weren’t alone, not anymore. Something that lingered in that same spot on her chest, that pressure that Juliana couldn’t figure out how to release. 

“Guess so.” Juliana looks back at the Morphing Grid. “It’s nice not to be alone, isn't it?” Juliana asks, mostly to see Valentina’s reaction. Valentina shrugs slightly. 

“I wouldn’t know.” Valentina’s voice took on a dejected tone. “I’ve always been alone.” 

Juliana didn’t know how to respond to that so she stayed silent. Her silence seemed answer enough. She did have a strange urge to comfort Valentina, maybe help her feel a little less alone. That urge prompted Juliana to drop her leg over the edge of the morphing pit and slide over a bit. Her shoulder bumped against Valentina’s, their arms brushing. Juliana wasn’t sure what she expected to happen, but she found herself smiling just the tiniest bit when Valentina’s reaction was to slip her hand into Juliana’s and lean against her shoulder. Valentina’s head came to rest in the space where Juliana’s shoulder and neck met, the warmth of her breath ghosting over Juliana’s skin. It was oddly comforting to Juliana, having Valentina so close. She wasn’t used to being touched by anyone who wasn’t family, but Valentina felt almost as familiar in the way she fit against Juliana. 

Juliana isn’t sure how long they sit like that, watching the energy in the morphing grid swirl around. Eventually, Juliana’s phone beeps and she has to stand up to check the message. She feels suddenly colder when Valentina moves away from her, apparently realizing that she should be heading home. It was far past the end of training, Juliana was sure the sun had already gone down, which is why her mother was texting her to ask where she was. Juliana hadn’t even realized she missed dinner. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Valentina says as she moves past Juliana to leave the ship, her bag slung over one shoulder. 

“Yeah, see you,” Juliana replies, returning Valentina’s smile. 

A few moments later and Juliana heads for the door herself, the lights of the command center dimming as she leaves. Zordon emerges from the pixelated wall then. He looks almost surprised, and maybe even a little pleased. It’s hard to tell with the moving pixels obscuring his expression. Alpha-5 appears without being summoned. 

“I think this is going to be one special team,” Alpha says, robotic eyes blinking as he zooms his vision in on Juliana’s retreating form, just exiting the ship. 

“Yes,” Zordon says in a sage voice. “Perhaps they aren’t as hopeless as I believed.” Maybe they could manage to unlock their morphing ability and defeat Rita. Maybe they could even do more than that. Maybe, a very big maybe, they were going to be a legendary Ranger team. 

Maybe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the comments and kudos have been awesome so far and I'm so glad y'all seem to like this fic as much as I've enjoyed writing it! See y'all next week!


	4. Are We Rangers

Jemma feels too aware of the people around her, or rather, the people that aren’t around her. She’s used to being somewhat of an outcast at Angel Grove, she’s not used to the other students staring at her. She can hear the whispers floating around the room. Most people couldn’t understand how Jemma had managed to befriend Kimberly Hart and Valentina Carvajal. To be perfectly honest, Jemma wasn’t sure how she managed to do that either. Even with the explosion in the mines-which Jemma could admit she probably should have been more careful about-there was no reason for the two most popular girls in school to be nice to her outside of training. They certainly weren’t very nice to each other during training, Jemma thought warily. She still had some fading bruises from the training session the day before, hidden beneath the sleeves of her off-white sweater. 

Even so, Valentina and Kimberly had greeted Jemma with smiles when she walked into the school building that morning. Well, Valentina had smiled. Kimberly’s smile had seemed like more of a grimace but Jemma thought that had more to do with the nasty things being whispered about Kimberly just within earshot than with her. Jemma’s face surely betrayed her own surprise and that of the other students in the hall when she began walking to class with Valentina and Kimberly. The crowd of students parted as they passed, staring at Jemma in an awestruck disbelief. The presence of Valentina and Kimberly kept them from commenting, but that had only lasted so long. Jemma didn’t share any classes with them and in their absence the students felt it safe to oogle Jemma far more openly. By the time lunch rolled around, Jemma had never been so happy to leave a classroom. 

The stares continued as Jemma walked across the cafeteria to the table she normally shared with Juliana. Four circular scorch marks now branded the surface of the wooden table which oddly satisfying. 

"You'd think these people could find something else to stare at." Kimberly dropped her lunch tray onto the table and took a seat beside Jemma, sounding thoroughly annoyed. Jemma shared the sentiment. 

"They'll get bored of it eventually," Juliana sat across from Jemma, Valentina right beside her. Trini joined them a few moments later, sitting on Valentina's other side. 

"Just ignore them," came Valentina's advice as Jemma looked around the room expectantly. She half expected the sixth member of their team to come bolting out of the shadows, but Daisy never showed up. 

"Does she even go to school here?" Trini asked when Jemma asked if any of the others knew where Daisy was. 

"When she wants too." Juliana shrugged slightly. I'm sure she'll be waiting for us at the mines." 

"Do you think there's another entrance somewhere? I really don't feel like going for another swim today." Kimberly directed her question to Juliana. 

"There probably is but I don't know where. We can ask Alpha later." Juliana turned her head slightly to look at Valentina when she giggled. 

"Sorry," Valentina apologized quickly. "It's just, we're missing one of our friends but that's okay because we'll see her later when we go to our space ship and train to fight horrible monsters with help from superpowered coins. And, while we're there, we'll ask the assistant robot if there's another way to get to the ship without jumping off a cliff." 

The others chuckled slightly as Valentina shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. 

"When you put it like that, it does sound a little ridiculous." Juliana bumped her shoulder against Valentina. 

"It sounds ridiculous even when you don't put it like that." Trini deadpanned and then they were all laughing loudly. Probably too loudly, if the increase of looks sent their way was anything to judge by, but they didn't care. 

For a moment, to Jemma, they felt like real friends. For just a few minutes, they weren't a group of people thrown together by fate or circumstance or even some all-knowing higher power. They were just teenagers, friends, laughing at a stupid joke together. There was a surge of warmth in the center of Jemma's chest that was almost enough to make her forget her disappointment that Daisy wasn't with them. 

Then the bell rang and the six Rangers had to go to their own classes. It almost felt like returning to real life. A life where aliens didn't exist and superheroes only existed in faraway cities. A life where Jemma was alone in a country she didn't know and surrounded by people who didn't understand her. 

It was odd, Jemma thought, that these girls had such an impact on her in the last three days. But then again, pretty much everything else Jemma had seen in the last few days had been exceedingly odd. Perhaps bonding with the girls experiencing these changes with her was the most normal thing that had happened. A reasonable explanation to be sure. Now if she could just explain the butterflies in her stomach reacted so strongly to Daisy, Jemma thought she might have all the answers. 

Well, probably not all. There were so many questions to be asked. But the important answers at least. 

Her afternoon classes pass by much more quickly to Jemma. She’s too preoccupied with her thoughts about her new found friend group to pay attention to her teachers. It’s not like her grades would suffer any, her record was near perfect. The only blemish was the unfortunate mishap that had landed her in detention in the first place, but, well, Jemma wasn’t sure if she regretted that yet or not. The result had yielded this new group she was a part of. 

Jemma’s thoughts ran in circles, focused on the five girls she was just starting to get to know. Were they friends? Teammates? People forced to spend time together through circumstance? Were they Rangers? Jemma wasn’t sure she could answer any of those questions. They were on the path to be friends, certainly. Kimberly and Valentina seemed to be friends already at least superficially, the same way Jemma herself and Juliana were. Trini and Kimberly seemed to be more like enemies than friends-though even Jemma could see that at least of the tension between them had to do with their rather complicated feelings towards one another-and Juliana and Valentina seemed to be inching closer to being more than friends. Daisy, she wasn’t as distant from the group as Trini but she wasn’t any closer either. Daisy kept to herself for the most part, which annoyed Jemma to no end and she couldn’t figure out why. 

So they weren’t all friends yet, and Jemma didn’t think they could be Rangers until they were friends. She didn’t know what that made them. 

Daisy, just as Juliana said she would be, was waiting for the others at the ravine. She was tossing rocks across the space between two cliffs to amuse herself while she waited. Daisy thought she could feel the others coming closer to her, there was a weird tingling sensation at the base of her neck. It wasn’t quite the same as that feeling Daisy would get when she knew someone was watching her, that feeling made the hairs on her arms stand up and the muscles in her shoulders tense. This wasn’t like that. This was more like a short signal, a spark that urged Daisy into action. She threw the last rock with more force than she meant too and accidentally cracked a boulder on the other side of the ravine with the impact. 

“Geez, what did that rock ever do to you,” Trini’s voice was teasing as Daisy turned to find the other five girls standing just behind her. Daisy wasn’t at all surprised to see that as that tingling feeling she felt subsided. 

“The world may never know,” Daisy joked back. “Were you trying to sneak up on me?” The others would normally announce their presence when they arrived. Well, Daisy guessed they hadn’t been doing this long enough yet to have a sense of normalcy but her point still stood. 

“I don’t think we can sneak up on each other.” Kimberly answered. 

“No, the Coins sense each other and alert us to the others presence,” Jemma pursed her lips. “That’s my theory, anyway.” 

“Ah, so everyone has that sense? The Ranger tingle?” Daisy’s lips pulled into a smirk. 

“We’re not calling it that.” Juliana’s voice left no room for argument. Daisy rolled her eyes. “But yes, we all have it.” 

“Fun stuff.” Kimberly’s tone implied that it really wasn’t that fun, but the others agreed anyway. 

“Why didn’t you wait for us in the ship dumbass?” Trini asked Daisy. Jemma looked appalled at the language but Daisy seemed to take it as a term of endearment as she smiled and gestured at her bag which was sitting on a boulder nearby. 

“I got something for everyone and I didn’t want to lose them in the water. Especially yours, crazy girl,” Daisy jabbed her finger in Trini’s direction, “I wasn’t sure the world could take any more of your tiny fury.” 

Trini rolled her eyes but the effect was lost since she was grinning. Daisy returned the grin while the others looked somewhere between shocked and amused. Daisy ignored their reactions and picked up her bag, pulling it open with one hand. 

“Heads up!” Daisy called and then tossed each of the other girls a roll of athletic tape, color-coded to match their Power Coin. “I’ve got two rolls for each of us.” She left the second roll of each color in her bag for the time being. She’d gotten two for everyone, just in case they started incorporating kicks into their combat training soon and needed to wrap their feet and hands. 

“What are these for?” Jemma asked, turning the white tape over in her hands. 

“Protection.” Daisy zipped her bag closed and slung it over her shoulders. “Assuming we don’t manage to morph today, we’ll need it to protect our hands when we train. Even with our healing factor, a broken wrist would hurt like a bitch.” 

“And the second roll would be for our ankles, right?” Juliana asked as she put her own tape away. Daisy nodded that she was right. “Thanks for these.” 

“No problem,” Daisy shrugged Juliana’s gratitude off and moved to the edge of the ravine. She paused before jumping and turned to the others, “We haven’t found another way down there yet, have we?” 

“No, not yet,” Valentina answered. “We thought we’d ask Alpha once we got down there.” 

“We?” Daisy questioned, the smallest hint of emotion creeping into her voice. 

Valentina nodded and gestured at the other four girls. “We talked about it a little bit at lunch.” 

“Right, lunch. School.” Daisy shrugged again, pretending that the motion made the ball of emotion in the pit of her stomach go away. Daisy had chosen not to go to school that day, she knew she hadn’t been left out of the conversation intentionally, but it still stung just a little bit. They could have texted her or something. They’d all traded phone numbers, hadn’t they? Daisy wasn’t sure of the answer. Shaking her head to refocus herself, Daisy turned back to the ravine. “Well, see you guys down there.” 

This time, Daisy gave in to her urge to do a flip as she jumped, and her momentum carried her into another half-flip so she ended up diving into the water rather than hitting feet first. That was probably not safe to do from such a height, but the impact didn’t hurt and Daisy was able to swim down to the cave a little easier so she called it a win. Now, if she could just exit the water without falling down, she’d be even more happy. 

Daisy managed to flip herself over as she fell from the water and landed in a crouched position, one knee touching the ground and her other leg bent a right angle with one arm extended to catch herself as she fell forward slightly. Daisy laughed at herself for the unintentional superhero pose she landed in before moving out of the way as the others approached the entrance. 

For it being their third time trying, Daisy thought they all had pretty smooth landings. Juliana had fallen in the same superhero pose that Daisy had. Valentina did too, but she hadn’t put her arm out soon enough and nearly fell forward. Trini landed in a low crouch rather than on one knee and Kimberly landed in a pose that reminded Daisy of Spiderman. Jemma was the only one who truly fell when she left the water, but even that was more of a stumble than a true fall. They were getting better. 

Juliana led the way into the command center where Zordon and Alpha were waiting for them. Alpha greeted them cheerily as they all set their bags down. 

“You guys are always soaking wet when you get here,” Alpha pointed out after Zordon asked them to try morphing again before they started training in the pit. 

“Well, there’s a bit of a swim to get here,” Valentina replied as she pulled her wet hair into a ponytail. “Unless there’s another entrance?” 

“No, but why don’t you just teleport?” Alpha’s tone indicated that he thought Valentina was clearly missing the obvious solution. Daisy turned to him. 

“We can teleport?” 

“They don’t have teleportation devices on Earth?” Alpha answered Daisy’s question with another question. Daisy shook her head in the negative. “Huh. Guess we’ll have to create some, then.” 

“How long will that take?” Daisy asked, a gleam in her eye. She had been hoping to get her hands on some alien technology that didn’t revolve around mystical powers that seemed to be more magic than science. 

“I’m not sure yet. That’ll depend on what we have on the ship.” Alpha tapped his metal chin. 

“Perhaps we could look into this later? The Rangers must train.” Zordon’s voice pulled Daisy’s attention away from the robot and she realized that she was the only one not standing on her designated pedestal. 

“Sorry, Zordon.” Daisy apologized and stepped onto the black pedestal. The morphing grid activated with a soft hum and Zordon began to explain what they should do to morph. 

Kimberly ignored Zordon’s voice as he tried to coach them through morphing. She couldn’t focus on what she was supposed to be doing with his instructions thrumming in her head. Zordon’s words didn’t seem right to her, his explanation didn’t make any sense. How were they supposed to feel each other, and focus on their own internal powers at the same time? Kimberly felt like she could only do one or the other right then, and she didn’t want to deal with her feelings. She knew how she felt, the feelings that she couldn’t seem to escape no matter how much she tried to pretend that she did. The guilt was practically eating her alive. 

It was much easier for Kimberly to look into the Grid and focus on the others. The energy looked different from the way it had seemed the day before. For a moment, Kimberly couldn’t figure out exactly what had changed. At first glance, everything looked the same. Six strands of different colored energy danced around one another within the grid. Kimberly wasn’t sure if it was actually their energy that she saw or just the Morphing Grid’s way of showing the girls what was happening, but she knew that what she saw in the grid was important. With Zordon’s voice droning on in the background of her awareness, Kimberly studied the colors and tried to find what was different. The yellow strand was still separated from the others but Kimberly thought it might have drifted closer. Either that, or the black strand had shifted closer to the yellow and thus away from the other colors, which sent a sharp pang of annoyance through Kimberly. The pink strand that represented her still lingered in the wide space between the blue and yellow strands. Kimberly ignored the small part of her that wanted to push her strand closer to Trini’s and focused on the last three strands. Just like the day before, the white and red stripes were closer than the others. That must be the result of Jemma and Juliana’s preexisting friendship. Kimberly felt another wave of guilt as she realized that she knew virtually nothing about her new teammates from before they found the coins, despite going to school with them. 

Kimberly buried her guilt and turned her gaze to the blue strand and it was then that she realized what had changed. The blue and red strands were much closer together than they had been the day before. They were moving against each other like all the colors did occasionally, but instead of bouncing off one another, the red and blue strands moved together, twisting into one another without a fight. Kimberly blinked, twice, and then looked away from the grid and towards the two girls. Valentina and Juliana were looking intensely at one another. They seemed to be unaware of the morphing grid growing brighter, the wind picking up. Out of the corner of her eye, Kimberly noticed Trini, Daisy, and Jemma also looking at Juliana and Valentina. They must have noticed the red and blue strands, too. 

Kimberly pulled her gaze away from the others and looked back into the grid. All six strands were closer together now, but only the red and blue touched. Kimberly willed her energy to mix with the others but it wouldn’t budge. They didn’t morph and the Grid shut down. 

“Alpha, take them to the pit.” Zordon retreated into his wall after the command was given. The six girls stepped away from the pedestals as the lights in the command center returned to normal. Alpha began walking out and the Rangers slowly followed. 

“You guys saw that, right?” Trini asked as she walked next to Kimberly. Her question was directed at Kim, and Daisy and Jemma, who were walking behind them. Valentina and Juliana were a few steps in front of them. 

“They’re closer.” Jemma gestured towards the two girls at the front of the group. 

“Closer to each other, or to the rest of us?” Kimberly asked. 

“Both,” Daisy shrugged when the four girls looked at her. “They’re closer to each other, we saw that in the grid. But seeing that made us closer to them, too. Didn’t you feel it?” 

“What does it matter?” Kimberly questioned harshly. The sudden switch in her mood seemed to throw the others off and they stared at her. “We still didn’t morph. We’re not any closer than we were before.” 

Kimberly stalked off then, quickening her pace to discourage the others from catching up with her. 

“What’s her problem?” Daisy asked lowly. Jemma shrugged slightly. 

“Perhaps the pressure of all this is getting to her.” 

Trini shook her head, looking far more thoughtful than Jemma or Daisy had seen her be before. “No, I think it’s something else.” Trini shook her head and the softening look she had worn was gone before Daisy could comment on it. “She’ll tell us eventually.” 

“Call me crazy, but I don’t think we’ll all be sitting around a fire and trading secrets anytime soon,” Daisy said, watching Trini walk away from her and Jemma as well. Daisy looked towards Jemma with a raised eyebrow. 

“Well, stranger things have happened, I suppose.” Jemma flipped the roll of tape in her hands but missed it when she tried to catch it. Daisy caught it for her and handed it back with a small, teasing smile. “How do we use this anyway? I’ve never had to wrap my hands before.” 

“I’ll show you,” Daisy reached out and grabbed Jemma’s free hand, using it to pull her down the hallway. “Once we get to the pit.” 

Daisy either didn’t notice or chose not to comment on the blush that colored Jemma’s cheeks as they walked down the hall, hand in hand. Daisy didn’t let go until they reached the ledge that overlooked the pit and they had to jump down the join the others. Jemma was grateful that by then, the other rangers were distracted unrolling their own tape and didn’t comment on the pink tinge to Jemma’s cheek. 

Even though he wasn’t visible then, Juliana had the distinct impression that Zordon wasn’t happy with them stalling practice so Daisy could show everyone how to wrap their hands the right way. Alpha-5 seemed to be more fascinated than annoyed with them and kept comparing the shape of their hands to his robotic ones. Still, that pressure in the back of Juliana’s mind urged her to get everyone on their feet as soon as possible. After a few missteps, all six girls had their hands properly wrapped and Alpha activated the training holograms. 

Juliana didn’t feel like they had the time to spend practicing against one another instead of sparring against the puttie holograms, but she didn’t want to force the others to fight when they weren’t ready yet. That small voice in the back of her head reminded her that they were going to be forced to fight before they were ready anyway if they couldn’t manage to morph before Rita regained her strength again. Juliana hated feeling like their choice was being taken away from them, but they needed to be as prepared as possible. They needed to figure out how to work together. 

With the holograms ready and waiting, Juliana stepped to the front of the group. 

“Okay, we need to figure out how to work together. Pair up.” The five other girls looked at one another for a moment until Juliana pointedly crossed her arms over her chest and raised one eyebrow at them. Grumbling lowly, groups of two formed under Juliana’s direction. Valentina and Kimberly paired up, as did Trini and Daisy, which left Jemma as Juliana’s partner. The teams that formed didn’t surprise Juliana but she did make a mental note to make them switch up next time. They all needed to be able to work together. 

“Let’s see how much of yesterday’s training sunk in.” Juliana nodded at Alpha-5 to animate the holograms as the three teams spread out around the pit. Alpha nodded back and moved to the edge of the Pit as the six Puttie holograms started moving. 

There were two Putties to each pair of Rangers as the training began. Juliana’s almost always present sense of where the others were increased as the fight began. She could feel their energy in the ground as it spread from their feet to hers and she could feel their frustration as their hits did little damage to the holograms. It was distracting, Juliana couldn’t tell who was feeling what; it through her off balance. Jemma was holding her own against the Puttie that had faced off with her but Juliana wasn’t faring so well. An unusually strong pulse of frustration drew Juliana’s attention away from the hologram as she tried to figure out who it was coming from. The Puttie seized the opportunity and its blow sent Juliana sailing through the air. She collided with the rock wall and fell to the ground with a grunt. 

Dazed, it took Juliana a moment to realize that her being down had forced a new team onto the field. Valentina had moved to help Jemma with the two Putties now focused on her and her absence had pulled Trini to Kimberly’s side, where they fought the three Putties surrounding them. Daisy had two Putties on her as well, but as the only one with fighting experience, she didn’t seem too concerned. Her plan seemed to be to dodge the hits until Juliana was back on her feet. The shift had occurred naturally, Juliana realized. They were acting on instinct to protect one another even in training, despite none of them really being friends yet. Juliana didn’t have time to dwell on that as she climbed back to her feet and joined the match again. 

Juliana moved to Daisy’s side since she was the only one without a partner and they stood back to back as they waited for the Putties to attack. The Putties forced them apart but Juliana managed to get in a good hit and broke off a significant piece of one of the Puttie’s shoulders. Daisy used the Puttie’s distraction to swiftly move up the wall and flip over the Puttie’s head, landing a kick against its back that forced it to hit the wall and break into further pieces. The second Puttie moved in the direction of Valentina and Jemma. Juliana followed after it once the first Puttie had disappeared and sent Daisy to help Trini and Kimberly. 

Valentina saw Juliana coming towards them and managed to knock over one of the Putties so she and Jemma could escape the circle they had been put in and join Juliana in the center of the Pit. Daisy, Trini, and Kimberly did the same as another hologram appeared to replace the one Juliana and Daisy had already dispatched. 

“There’s more of them?” Daisy asked, annoyed. 

“Rita’s army will keep reforming until she’s defeated.” Alpha explained from his perch on the ledge where he watched the Rangers train. “There’s always more of them.” 

“Fucking peachy.” Trini muttered as the six Putties circled them. Juliana had the fleeting thought that maybe they should have taken the time to wrap their ankles as well before she was distracted by the Putties charging at them. 

They all moved differently to avoid the collision coming. Juliana ducked down and then rolled beneath the Puttie’s legs while Valentina simply slipped between them, moving as fluidly as water. Kimberly and Daisy had both jumped out of the way heading in opposite directions. Trini and Jemma waited until the last second before diving out of the way. The six Putties collide with one another, forming a cloud of holographic dust that felt oddly realistic as it made Juliana cough. 

“Single them out,” Juliana ordered. “We’ll take them out one at a time.” 

The order was easier said than done. As each Puttie was taken down, a new appeared to replace it so it was always at six Putties versus six Rangers. Teams formed and switched too fast for Juliana to keep up with until she finally called the training to a halt. All six girls were sweating and panting, glaring up at Alpha as if daring him to make another hologram appear. They were still paired off then, Juliana had been fighting beside Valentina. Jemma and Daisy were just behind them and Trini and Kimberly had ended up on the other side of the Pit. 

“You connected very well today,” Zordon’s voice filled the pit with a slight echo. “Return to the Command Center. You must morph.” 

“I thought you were the one who’s supposed to give the orders.” Daisy said to Juliana, none of them making any indication of moving from the Pit. 

“It’s probably just a habit,” Valentina said as she followed Juliana to a set of rocks around the edge of the Pit where all six Rangers took a seat to catch their breath. 

“Zordon was the last Red Ranger, he’s used to leading.” Juliana finished the thought Valentina had started. 

“I wonder what the other colors mean,” Jemma said, unwrapping her hands under Daisy’s guidance. 

“Do they all have to mean something?” Trini asked as she did the same, her leg bumping against Kimberly’s as she moved higher onto the boulder and bent her knees to rest her arms on. Kimberly glanced her but for once her expression didn’t hold any malice. Kimberly was almost smiling even, an expression Trini was sure Kimberly had never directed at her before-aside from the whole water bottle thing the day they found the ship, but that didn’t count since Kimberly was just trying to get Trini to jump. 

“Surely they do.” Jemma finished unwrapping one hand and moved to the other. “Why would only one color have a designated role? That doesn’t make any sense.” 

“Maybe the roles change,” Daisy shrugged lightly, “maybe the color doesn’t matter and it’s all about who’s holding the Coins instead.” 

“That’s a fair point actually.” Jemma agreed. 

“If anyone else wants to be the leader, feel free,” Juliana joked lightly, hoping that the others wouldn’t pick up on her own conflicted emotions. Daisy was right. Just because Zordon said the Red Ranger leads, doesn’t mean it’s true. Any of the others could be the leader just as easily as Juliana, maybe they’d even be a better choice than Juliana. She certainly didn’t feel like she would make a good leader, superpowers or not. 

“No thanks,” Daisy laughed, “I’m used to running away from responsibility, not towards it.” 

Her comment drew a laugh from the others. Juliana wiped the sweat from her brow with the hem of her shirt, closing her eyes for a moment. When she dropped her shirt back down, Juliana noticed Valentina focusing very intently on the rolls of tape in her hands and not looking in Juliana’s direction. Juliana’s brow furrowed and she looked at the others in question. Daisy and Kimberly were both smirking at her, Jemma looking like she wanted to admonish both of them. Trini was also focused on the tape in her hands, her eyes flickering in Kimberly’s direction for the briefest of moments before she looked away again. 

“What?” Juliana asked as Valentina continued to not look at her and Daisy and Kimberly smirked at her silently. 

“Nothing,” Valentina said quickly. “We should get to the Command Center before Zordon yells at us.” Valentina crossed the pit and leaped up to the ledge that would take her back to the ship before Juliana could respond. 

“What just happened?” Juliana asked as Valentina disappeared over the ledge. 

“Valentina was totally checking out your abs,” Kimberly answered, her smirk growing. Juliana looked at her in surprise. 

“I knew it,” Daisy said, pumping her fist. Juliana looked at her as they all climbed off the rocks to follow Valentina. 

“Knew what?” 

“Valentina’s totally into you,” Daisy explained as if it was the most obvious answer. “That’s why we can see your energies together in the Grid.” 

“What are you talking about?” There was a slight pause in their conversation as they jumped onto the ledge. 

“Weren’t you looking into the Grid earlier when we tried to Morph?” Kimberly asked, knowing that the answer was no. 

“No, I was looking” at Valentina, “somewhere else.” Juliana cleared her throat. 

“Right,” Daisy and Kimberly shared a look, looking oddly friendly for a moment. Trini silently moved past them and up the stairs into the ship. “Maybe you should look this time. You might see something interesting.” Daisy said as she and Kimberly walked into the ship. 

“Do you have any idea what they are talking about?” Juliana asked Jemma as they followed the rest of the group. 

“Oh, of course,” Jemma nodded. Juliana waited for a moment but Jemma didn’t offer any more information up. 

“Are you going to tell me?” 

“Actually, no, I don’t think I will.” Jemma’s smile was teasing as she moved past Juliana. 

“Three days of this and they’ve already corrupted Jemma,” Juliana grumbled under her breath. She continued on to the Command Center and, after pausing to drop her tape into her bag, joined the others around the Morphing Grid. 

Zordon seemed expectant as they started trying to morph again, like he was waiting for some kind of breakthrough. Juliana wasn’t sure why Zordon expected so much. She hadn’t felt like they made any real progress yet in becoming a real team, all the good they had done so far had been nothing more than instinct. Juliana could only say for sure that she was friends with Jemma and Valentina. Daisy’s advice to look into the Grid rang in her ears so Juliana turned her attention to the swirling forms of energy in the center of the circle, hoping to find whatever Zordon seemed to see as a breakthrough. 

The first thing that Juliana noticed was that their colors were brighter. The glowing strands of energy meant to represent each of them were shining much more vibrantly than they had the first time they tried to morph. The second was that the colors were all closer together. The yellow strand wasn’t so much of an outlier anymore, and the distance between the pink, yellow, and black had shrunk a little bit. The strands seemed to be sliding over, not quite in the same straight line they had been in before. Finally, Juliana looked at the red strand that she knew represented herself and was surprised to see it moving in tandem with the blue strand. They weren’t just touching, they were moving through the energy field together in a way that seemed oddly intimate. 

Juliana’s eyes snapped up to meet Valentina’s gaze. Just like it had happened earlier that afternoon, the energy surrounding the Morphing Grid became more intense, the wind picked up and the light growing brighter. There was a pressure in Juliana’s chest, beating in time with her heartbeat and pounding against her ribs. And, just like before, Juliana didn’t know how to release that pressure. It kept building and building until Juliana was sure it would force its way out her chest then. Then, it stopped. 

The air stilled and the lights of the Command Center came back on as the Morphing Grid returned to its inactive state. The pressure in Juliana’s chest abated. Once again, they hadn’t Morphed. 

Zordon’s disappointment was clear in his voice as he told them to rest and be ready to train harder the next day. Alpha-5 tried to be encouraging as the Rangers gathered their things together, but his words didn’t provide much comfort. The Rangers couldn’t help but feel disappointed and discouraged, each of them wondering if Zordon was wrong and the Morphing Grid had made a mistake in choosing them. 

The exit the caves quickly but linger around the top of the ravine, sitting on the edge of the cliff as the sun goes down. 

“You know, for a second, I almost thought we would morph.” Jemma breaks the silence that had fallen over them as they watch the sunset. She’s sitting between Daisy and Juliana. Valentina sits on Juliana’s other side with Trini and Kimberly on the other side of her. Jemma can’t really tell from that angle, but it looks like Valentina and Juliana are holding hands. She’s not sure if either of them are aware of that. 

“Me, too,” Valentina says with a sigh. “I don’t know why we can’t.” 

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kimberly said in a cynical voice. “We’re not Power Rangers.” She threw a pebble across the empty space and watched it bounce off the opposite cliffside. 

“Aren’t we?” Daisy sounds like she’s trying to be encouraging, but the effect is lost since she doesn’t believe it herself. 

“How can we be?” Trini doesn’t look at them as she speaks. “We can’t morph, we can barely fight.” We’re not even really friends. “We’re not Power Rangers.” 

A hush falls over the group. They sit in silence as the sun fades over the horizon, none of them sure what to say. There isn’t anything to say, Juliana thinks. Trini’s right and they can all feel it. 

Trini is the first to leave, silently climbing to her feet and making her way through the woods without saying goodbye to the others. A few minutes later, Daisy leaves as well, then Jemma and Kimberly. Juliana doesn’t look away from the fading sun until Valentina’s squeezes her hand. She starts a bit. She hadn’t even realized that she and Valentina had been holding hands. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Juls,” Valentina says softly as she stands up. Juliana offers her a small smile, faintly aware that it’s the first time Valentina hadn’t said her full name. 

“See you, Val.” 

Juliana lingers at the ravine for a little while longer, until the sun is long gone and the stars shine in its absence. Her awareness of the others fades as they move further away from her. Juliana isn’t aware of how empty she feels without them until she can’t feel them anymore. She wonders if she had always felt that way, or if it was something that being a Ranger had brought out in her. It probably didn’t matter. It’s not like Juliana felt much like a Ranger, or a leader. 

Sitting there, alone, under the stars, Juliana only felt scared. Scared that she wouldn’t be enough for the Rangers, wouldn’t be a good enough leader. Scared that she wouldn’t be able to stop Rita. Juliana was scared in a way that she hadn’t been in a long time, not since her father was put away and her mother moved their family to Angel Grove. 

Years had passed and Juliana still felt like the scared little girl she used to be, trembling in the corner as her drunk father staggered towards her with his hands raised. 

Juliana closed her eyes and willed the memories that wanted to surface away from her mind. She couldn’t force the fear away, though. That had stayed with her until she finally left the mines and headed home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! 
> 
> Over on Tumblr, @queergeek123 has drawn up some fantastic art based on this fic. I've given her permission to post it and once she does, I'll reblog it on Tumblr and add a link to it on here! This is the first time someone has drawn fan art because of something I wrote and I am beyond ecstatic. 
> 
> Now I need to get back to doing homework, see y'all next Friday!


	5. Explorations

“We have got to figure out another way into the ship,” Daisy said as she plopped her lunch tray down and sat across from Jemma. The other five Rangers stared at her for a moment. “What?” 

“Nothing,” Juliana shook her head. “I just don’t think I’ve ever seen you at school before.” 

Daisy shrugged and took a bite of her not warm enough food. “I haven’t been here all that long. Also school is boring.” 

“And you have better things to do?” Trini asked with a raised eyebrow. Kimberly glanced over at her and then away again. 

“Probably not better, but definitely more fun.” Daisy grinned at the others. “Anyway, this whole jumping off a cliff to reach our super secret spaceship is fun and all, but I’m getting tired of the daily swims.” 

“I thought you would be enjoying the jumping part more than anyone.” Valentina said with a small laugh. “You do a flip every time.” 

“The jumping part I do enjoy. It’s the training with a wet wedgie that I could do without.” 

“That’s fair.” Kimberly said and they all laughed a bit. A few glances were thrown their way at the noise, the school at large hadn’t gotten used to seeing the two queen bees of the school, even if one of them had fallen from grace, sitting with a group of relative nobodies. “Alpha said something about teleportation, didn’t he?” 

“He said he’d have to check and see what parts he had on the ship.” Valentina pushed her half empty lunch tray away and leaned her elbows on the table. Below the table, Valentina’s leg was pressed flush with Juliana’s, despite there being plenty of room on the bench for Juliana to pull away. 

“Do you think there’s like a stock room or something on there?” Kimberly asked as she too pushed her tray away. 

“Probably,” Jemma tapped her chin thoughtfully. “We’ve really only been in the Command Center. The ship is massive. I’m sure there’s a ton of rooms that we haven’t discovered yet.” 

“So we need to go exploring, then?” Trini seemed more interested in this conversation than she had in any other, although the girls hadn’t been speaking all that much until Daisy had sat down with them. 

“Yes, but when? We spend all our time there training.” Jemma directed the question at Juliana. They had all been doing that to some degree, directing questions and comments to Juliana to get her opinion. Juliana wasn’t sure if it was because they naturally feel in line with the hierarchy of the coins or not.

“We’ll take some breaks,” Juliana replied after a moment of thought. “Spend some time training in pairs or groups of three. The rest can explore the ship for a bit and we can always hang out there after training if we find anything interesting.” 

“It’s a giant, ancient, alien ship,” Daisy deadpanned. “Of course we’re going to find something interesting.” 

“Not to mention that the last owners of the ship were a team of intergalactic superheroes.” Jemma added. 

“I wonder if we could learn more about them,” Valentina’s leg shifted slightly as she moved a little away from Juliana. Juliana shifted at the same time so their legs stayed pressed together, but the motion seemed almost unconscious. Juliana hadn’t even realized that she’d moved until she looked up and saw Daisy eyeing her closely. “I doubt Zordon will tell us much.” 

“Maybe Alpha will?” 

Juliana let her thoughts drift as the conversation continued on around her. It was a surreal feeling. Here they were, all six of them gathered together in a non-combat, non-Ranger centered way for the first time since they had met. They were just eating lunch together and talking. Granted, they were discussing the possibility of teleporting to their spaceship that was hidden beneath the old gold mines and wondering if their assistant robot could help with that, but it felt oddly normal. Juliana hadn’t realized how used she had gotten to having these girls around her all ready. They’d really only spent a few days together, most of that time was spent getting the shit beat out of them by holograms, but there was a sense of comradery among them now. They’d seen each other bleed and yelled at one another and gotten slammed into the same walls over and over again with Alpha looking a little too gleeful as he watched. And now here they were, six not-quite-friends-but-not- _ not _ -friends sitting together around a high school lunch table, talking and eating and even joking around a bit. 

When the group separated for their afternoon classes, ignoring the stares that followed them as they each walked away from their table, Juliana was surprised to find herself feeling a little happier than usual. It was strange really. Juliana had never been the type to show fondness for anyone she wasn’t related to, but she couldn’t deny the way these five girls were digging their way into her heart. She was happy to be around them, happy to hear them laugh and see them smile. It helped her feel like maybe they weren’t really carrying the weight of the world, or maybe they were but doing it together made the burden bearable. Juliana knew she wasn’t the only one feeling that way, she could feel it in the others too as they grew more in tune with one another. She could see it in the way Daisy grinned at them when she sat down and hear it in Jemma’s voice. It was there in the smirk Trini tried to hide from them and the glint in Kimberly’s eyes. It was there in the way Valentina looked at them, with the kind of soft compassion Juliana often felt when watching the twins, and the way she looked at Juliana. The way Valentina looked at Juliana almost felt the same as when Juliana first held her Power Coin. Exhilarating and freeing, and terrifying all at once. 

Things were changing within the group. Juliana had learned to read people long ago and she could almost see the Rangers growing closer together. She could see the changes happening when she looked into the Morphing Grid that afternoon when they tried, unsuccessfully, to morph. Their energies were mixing a little more, growing closer and closer. The pink strand of energy remained somewhat of an outlier, drifting closer to the yellow strand more than any other color, but black and white were nearly touching now. The blue and red strands were completely flush with one another. And the strands were moving too. They weren’t lined up straight anymore, but they weren’t positioned in any shape Juliana could recognize. It looked like a transition of some kind, the movement seemed purposeful but Juliana couldn’t tell why yet. 

~

When they failed to morph, again, Juliana decided they could explore the ship a little bit as a group before heading down to the Pit. Alpha-5 offered to show them around but the Rangers declined. They wanted to find the ships secrets on their own, but they promised they’d ask Alpha for help if they needed anything. 

Daisy lead the way through the ship down one of the four main hallways that branched from the entrance. They already knew one hall lead to the Command Center and a side path off of that lead to the Pit, which left three halls to explore. Daisy picked the one on the left and they set off. Juliana watched the group fall into pairs, Daisy and Jemma walked together at the front of the group and Kimberly and Trini walked at the back. Valentina and Juliana walked together in the middle, their hands occasionally brushing until Valentina took Juliana’s hand in her own. 

Trini and Kimberly shared a look at that, and then looked away from one another just as quickly. Out of all the regular pairings that seemed to form when the Rangers trained, or even just walked together, they had they most unresolved tension. Trini was normally able to get a pretty good read on people, but Kimberly was an enigma to her. There were moments when Kimberly seemed as open and carefree as the rest of them, and then something would click off and Kimberly would be bitchy and mean. Trini could tell that Kimberly’s bitchy attitude was a facade, truthfully Trini had known that since before she and Kimberly officially met, but she couldn’t tell why it snapped into place at such odd times. It almost seemed like Kimberly was afraid of letting people see that she felt anything at all. 

“Hey, Trini?” Kimberly said softly as they walked. Trini looked over at her. “I’m sorry, about the whole DeeDee thing. I know I apologized before but we weren’t really on speaking terms then, and I think we are now.” 

“It’s alright,” Trini shrugged the apology off. “It’s not like you would have known who I was anyway.” Kimberly looked offended and Trini took a second to rethink what she had said. “Shit, that came out wrong. I just mean-we’d never spoken before. We weren’t friends and I don’t talk much at school anyway. I can’t really be mad at you for not knowing who I was when it was partially my fault.” 

“I still feel like a bitch, though. We have class together, I should have known you from that if nothing else.” 

“We sit on opposite sides of the room and had literally never spoken before Saturday night.” Trini stuffed her hands in her pockets to keep herself from following through on the odd urge to touch Kimberly’s arm. “You don’t need to apologize.” 

“If you’re sure.” Kimberly rubbed at the back of her neck with one hand, almost looking sheepish. Trini’s stomach did an annoying little flip at the sight, reminded her of the slight crush she had tried so hard to keep from forming. She’d always thought Kimberly was attractive; bitchy, yeah, but also hot. Now that Trini was actually getting to know her, she had gone from a small crush to almost full-fledged attraction. It made a nervous ball of anxiety roll in her stomach. 

“I’m sure,” Trini offered Kimberly a half smirk, “but if you’re so desperate to apologize, you could do it for pulling me off a cliff.” 

“I did apologize for that,” Kimberly’s laugh was musical, carrying down the hall to the other four Rangers. 

“Yeah, before you did it.” Trini pokes Kimberly’s arm slightly and then shoves her hand back into her pocket. “I didn’t know what you were apologizing for, so it doesn’t count.” 

“I am sorry about that,” Kimberly bumped her shoulder against Trini’s. “But at least I didn’t finish your water, just like you asked.” 

Trini was laughing then too, a low chuckle that made Kimberly feel comfortably warm as the sound rushed over her. Trini’s laugh was as beautiful as her smile and Kimberly found herself wondering how she had never noticed either before. 

“Yo, love birds!” Daisy called out making Trini and Kim take a step apart from one another. “We found something!” 

“We’re coming!” Kimberly yelled back. 

“Thanks for the update but I didn’t need to know that.” 

“ _ DAISY _ !” Jemma’s scolding was followed by loud laughter that only amplified when Trini and Kimberly stepped into the newly discovered room, cheeks tinged an embarrassing shade of pink and pointedly not looking at each other. 

“What did you find?” Kimberly asked, ignoring Daisy’s laughter. 

“You’d’ve already known if you weren’t so busy flirting.” Juliana couldn’t resist the slight jab. Jemma turned her glare from Daisy to Juliana. 

“I don’t know if I’m more upset because you’re teasing them too, or because of that god awful contraction.” Jemma reached out and flicked Juliana’s arm. “‘You’d’ve?’ Who taught you that?” 

“It’s a good word.” Juliana dodged the second flick, sliding herself behind Valentina. 

“It’s an abomination. It’s like saying y’all.” 

“I feel like Jemma’s just straight up hating on the south right now.” Trini had apparently recovered from her embarrassment and joined the group in the room where they still lingered near the entrance. 

“Or just the way Juliana speaks.” Daisy shrugged slightly. Trini stepped up beside her and Daisy looked like she wanted to comment on Trini standing as far away from Kimberly as possible but refrained from doing so. For now. 

“It’s both,” Juliana said, peeking around Valentina’s shoulder. Her hands were gently holding Valentina’s waist until she decided that Jemma wasn’t going to flick her again and stepped out from behind her. “I lived in Texas until I was thirteen.” 

“That explains so much.” Daisy looked as if the universe had just shown her the answer to the meaning of life. The others looked at her, clearly waiting for an explanation that Daisy didn’t feel inclined to give. Instead she moved further into the room. “What is this place anyway?” 

The lights came on as the Rangers stepped further into the room and two rows of gurney style beds were revealed. There were three beds on each side of the room, all of them looking clean and crisp, and surprisingly not color coded. Above each bed was a display of somesort, but they were all blank. 

“A medical wing maybe?” Jemma moved to the closest bed and ran her fingers across the fabric of the blanket laying across it. 

“I guess that would make sense.” Valentina followed Jemma to the bed and, after a moment of consideration, laid down on top of if. “We have the healing factor, but we’re not invincible. If the Rangers really are intergalactic heroes, it would make sense to have their own hospital on the ship.” 

As Valentina laid down, the screen above the bed lit up, a blue light appearing and scanning across Valentina’s body for a second. 

“Fascinating,” Jemma mumbled as the scans readout appeared on the screen, showing Valentina’s heart rate, oxygen levels, and a few other things that Jemma couldn’t decipher, along with an outline of Valentina’s body. 

“I wonder if,” Juliana said as she moved to the bed with the others trailing behind her, before she flicked Valentina’s shoulder. 

“What was that for?” Valentina asked, rubbing the spot on her arm. Juliana’s gaze was fixed on the display screen, where a small spot along the arm of the outline had lit up. 

“Sorry, just testing the display screen.” Juliana touched Valentina’s hand softly as she apologized. There was a soft beep as Valentina’s heart rate picked up slightly. 

“It’s okay.” Valentina said hastily and removed herself from the bed. “We should probably start training.” 

“And they called us lovebirds.” Kimberly muttered softly to Trini as the six Rangers filed out of the Med Bay and headed towards the pit. Trini didn’t comment but she did send a small smile in Kim’s direction. 

~

Alpha was waiting for them in the Pit with a miniaturized hologram of a puttie beside him. While the Rangers wrapped their hands, Alpha showed them how to slide beneath the putties arm, turn and flip the putties onto their backs using a body slam manuevor. The move looked simple enough, but it took each Ranger multiple tries to execute it correctly, and many swear words during the trial and error period. 

“Maybe we should see if that med bay we found has some ice packs.” Valentina said during a short break where the Rangers were sitting on a ledge above the Pit with water bottles in hand. 

“I’m sure it does,” Jemma said as she closed the lid of her water bottle and set it aside. “Or the alien equivalent to it.” 

“Don’t worry, the bruises will fade by morning like they always do.” Alpha said from below them. “Or you can always rest in the Ranger cabins for a little while if you need to.” 

“Ranger cabins?” Daisy sat up from where she had been lounging and looked down at Alpha. 

“I guess you guys haven’t found those yet then.” Alpha rubbed at his head. “And by the looks on your faces, we’re not going to get anything done until you see them. Go down the hallway across from the Command Center.” 

The six Rangers were on their feet and headed back into the ship to follow the directions Alpha had given them a moment later. As they stepped into the hallway, the lights came almost all the way up and the girls could see six short pathways that branched from the main hallway and a large room at the end of the hall. 

“Looks like there’s a cabin for each of us,” Trini pointed at the small lights above each of the branching pathways that gave each one a colorful glow. Red, yellow and black were on one side of the hall with blue, pink and white across from them. 

“Let’s check them out.” Kimberly moved over the pink lit hallway, the others followed her lead and moved to their own rooms. 

The door to the blue room opens as Valentina approaches and she’s not quite sure what to expect. A part of her thinks that this room will give her some kind of insight to what role she’s supposed to play on the team, a reason why the blue coin chose her. It’s something she had wondered since they talked about each color having a defined role on the team. Valentina can see why Juliana was chosen to be the leader. Juliana is strong and caring and determined. Juliana carries this quiet authority in the way she doesn’t demand to be listened to. She asks the others to train, asks them to be on time to training, and let them choose to be there in the first place. Juliana’s the type of leader who doesn’t demand respect because she doesn’t need to, she earns it. 

And, while Valentina isn’t certain of the other colors roles, she can see them forming. Jemma is their doctor. She’s the one to check how badly every one is bruised at the end of training and tell them if they should ice or not, and how to stretch to get that lingering soreness out. She also makes sure the Rangers are all taking water breaks and eating. Daisy and Trini, they were the warriors of the team. They were the first to master a new move, the first to slip into a protective stance if one of the others got knocked down. Daisy had an advantage in outright skill but only because she had been training for years. Kimberly, she was a little harder for Valentina to pin down to a specific role. Kimberly seemed to fall back some times, not because she couldn’t fight well but because she tended to launch into sudden attacks targeted at openings that Valentina hadn’t realized were there. Kimberly acted as protector and backup for anyone who needed it. 

The room Valentina enters doesn’t hold any clues to help Valentina figure out where she fits in among the other Rangers. In fact, the cabin is fairly simple if a bit futuristic. A display similar to the one in the Med Bay takes up a little bit of space on one wall, next to what looks to be a set of drawers built into the wall. A bed rests along the back wall, carved into an alcove, with a blue blanket stretched across its surface and a pillow shaped object positioned at what must be the head of the bed. A pair of folding doors are also on the back wall and form what seems to be a closet. Across from the display is a metal desk with a chair that looks to be hovering rather than resting on anything. Next to that is another door, full-sized, that leads to what Valentian assumes is a washroom. 

After a few moments looking around the room, Valentina hears voices in the hall and turns towards the door just as Juliana appears there. 

“It looks like there’s a kitchen at the end of the hall,” Juliana says from the doorway. “I told the others we could check it out quickly but then we have to get back to training.” 

Valentina nodded her agreement. “This place is pretty cool isn’t it?” 

“Yeah, I wonder what it was like for the last team. With a ship like this, they probably lived here full time and travelled around the galaxies.” Juliana took Valentina’s hand when she approached the door, pulling her along towards the large room at the end of the hall. 

“Maybe Zordon will tells us someday,” Valentina remarked. “Assuming we can ever morph and stop Rita from destroying the world.” 

“We’ll get there,” Juliana said in the quietly confident way that reminds Valentina of why Juliana was chosen as the Red Ranger. It’s comforting and encouraging at the same time and every time Valentina hears that tone, she wonders what made Juliana into this quietly confident person. Why does Juliana hide this side of her behind a bad reputation and glare? “Let’s worry about making sure the others don’t break anything for now. We’ll worry about morphing later.” 

Immediately following Juliana’s words, a crash can be heard in the room ahead of them followed by a single groan and raucous laughter. Juliana and Valentina share a look, equal parts amused and exasperated, and enter the room together. They find Trini sitting on the floor next to a spinning chair, Jemma leaning down to make sure she’s okay and Daisy and Kimberly nearly doubled over in laughter. 

“What happened here?” Juliana asked as she and Valentia approached. It was then that Valentina noticed a second chair lingering in the space behind Daisy. 

“We learned these hovering chairs are not good for playing bumper cars.” Daisy explained through her laughter. Juliana looked between her and Trini, the ones most likely to try that idea out in the first place, but decided against saying anything. 

“Are you okay?’ Valentina asked Trini as Kimberly and Jemma helped her up. 

“Fine,” Trini grumbled as she dusted herself off. She sent a short, playful glare in Daisy’s direction. “I’ll get her back later.” 

“Whatever you say, Tiny.” Daisy quipped lightly. Trini glared at her again, harder this time and Daisy took a deep breath before saying, “I’ll meet you guys in the Pit,” and then dashing out of the room. Trini took off after her. 

“Should we stop them?” Jemma asked as the rest of them followed at a slower pace. Ahead of them, they could hear Daisy trying to placate Trini and then a short groaning cough. 

“Let them get it out of their system first.” Valentina said as they exited the ship and walked in the direction of the Pit. “Otherwise we’ll have to put off training even longer.” 

The others agreed and when they jumped down into the Pit, they found Trini and Daisy wrestling one another in a playful manner. Trini kicked Daisy away from her, an underpowered kick since Daisy didn’t go flying across the open space like she would have if Trini had kicked with full force, and climbed to her feet. Daisy landed in a huff at the other Ranger’s feet. 

“Okay,” Daisy pushed herself to her feet. “You win. Tiny but mighty.” 

Trini scowled at her but a look from Juliana kept her from launching into another playful attack. 

“Now that we’ve got that figured out, whatever that was,” Juliana chuckled slightly, “time to get back to business. Get your hands wrapped again.” The girls moved over to the bags that held their rolls of tape and water bottles to follow Juliana’s order. 

~

A few hours later, the sweaty and bruised Rangers made their way into the Command Center for their second attempt at Morphing that day. Zordon’s voice droned on the background as usual, urging them to think of each other and their connection and use that to connect with the Morphing Grid. Trini ignores him, as usual, and watches their energies move around each other in the Grid. 

The connection between Valentina and Juliana must have gotten deeper, Trini realized, as the blue and red strands were becoming more intertwined with one another. Even though both strands were touching other colors as well, the blue and pink strands brushed together more often now, as did the red and white, they didn’t mix in the same way. The way the blue and red twisted together was deeper somehow, Trini couldn’t really explain it. It made her hopeful and anxious at the same time. 

If Trini was being honest with herself, she was a little scared too. There was a reason Trini had kept to herself for the last year that she had been Angel Grove. She wasn't close to anyone because she didn't want to be close to anyone. Things were easier that way. Trini could pretend that she felt normal, that she belonged in her perfectly normal family, that her sexuality wasn't the elephant in the room at every family meal. Trini preferred being alone to trying to explain to her conservative mother that she liked girls instead of guys. But the Rangers were starting to change that. 

Trini was starting to learn that she didn't actually like being alone. She could see the evidence of that too, in the Grid. The yellow strand that represented her wasn't the outlier of the group anymore. The yellow strand brushed against black occasionally and there was a noticeable pull between the pink and yellow strands. Between Trini and Kimberly. (Trini privately wondered if one of the Power Coins secret powers was playing matchmaker among the Rangers, but that was something to dwell on another day.) Trini enjoyed being around the other Rangers. She enjoyed Jemma's rambling speeches that sometimes didn't make any sense and the way Daisy wasn't afraid to make playful jabs at Trini. She found it amusing to watch Juliana and Valentina stumble through the ridiculously obvious attraction they shared--and the running bet the other four Rangers had on when they would officially get together. She liked being able to laugh and joke with them and sit with them at lunch. 

And Kimberly, there was so much about her that Trini was starting to like. Kimberly could be snarky and impulsive one second and subdued the next. She carried herself like the weight of the world rested on her shoulders but she tried to pretend like the weight didn't bother her. Sometimes she looked at Trini with this deep, almost affectionate, considering expression. It was like she was trying to figure out what Trini was thinking, like she desperately wanted to know what happened inside Trini's head. It caught Trini off guard sometimes and she forgot to hide behind a blank expression. Those times, Kimberly's smile was so bright she almost looked as joyful as she did before her fall from grace. She almost looked like she had stopped pretending for a second, too, just like Trini. 

It scared Trini because the pull between them felt inevitable. Trini had watched Juliana and Valentina drift together so quickly, so effortlessly even, and could see the same thing happening between Daisy and Jemma. It was in the way they smiled at each other, how they unconsciously fell into step together whether it was walking down the hall or training against the Putties. It was in the way that they always sought each other out first when they tried to morph, making eye contact across the Grid and holding it until the lights stopped moving and they stepped off the pedestals. Trini knew it was only a matter of time, and a short amount of time at that, before the black and white strands moved together the same way the red and blue already did. Pink and yellow doing the same felt just as inevitable. 

Trini didn't think she deserved to have that kind of connection with someone like Kim. She wasn't blind to Kimberly's flaws, she knew that Kimberly could and would be a bitch if she felt the occasion called for it, but Trini could also see the guilt she felt about it. Kimberly had apologized for getting her name wrong, twice, and seemed to be making an effort to not snap at the other Rangers so much. Kimberly was the type of person who recognized that she had done an awful thing and dealt with the consequences of that. It was so beautiful, the way Kimberly worked to be a better person. Trini wasn't like that. Trini hid behind a vacant glare and blaring music. Trini didn't pretend to be untethered. Trini stewed in a near constant state of silent anger, so much so that she wasn't even sure what she was so mad about anymore. Kimberly deserved more than a girl who couldn't remember why she was mad at the world. 

After failing to morph, and feeling that balk of disappointment settle in her stomach at yet another failure, Trini followed the others back down the hallway that Daisy had dubbed the Ranger Quarters. They passed by their cabins and headed for the large room at the end of the hall that they had thought had been some kind of kitchen. The room actually proved to be a recreation space of some kind. 

"You can actually make food in this," Alpha gestured to a set of tube shaped appliances in the back of the rec room, "but the equipment was damaged when the ship crashed here. It'll need to be repaired." 

"Can we repair it?" Daisy asked as she moved closer to the tubes with Alpha. Alpha nodded his head. 

"Sure, if you're willing to play mechanic." 

"What about the teleportation devices you mentioned yesterday?" Jemma asked from where she had taken a seat on a surprisingly comfortable couch. "I know we're all tired of our daily swims." 

"We have all the parts to make them, but they'll need to be calibrated to your signatures in the Morphing Grid." Alpha explained. "I checked the armory for the parts after you all left yesterday." 

"We have an armory?" Kimberly asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Are you really surprised?" Trini returned, smiling slightly when Kimberly shrugged and said, 

"Yes, but I probably shouldn't be." 

"How long will it take to make and calibrate them?" Juliana felt Valentina sit beside her on the couch and twist around she could see Alpha. Trini noticed that the position had put Valentina's arm around Juliana's shoulders and they were almost imperceptibly leaning towards each other. 

"I have them built already," Alpha admitted in a tone that sounded oddly sheepish. He read the amusement on the Ranger's faces and shrugged his robotic shoulders. "I don't have anything to do until you guys get here every day and I don't sleep. I was bored." 

"Okay so can we calibrate them now?" Jemma asked eagerly, voicing the questions on everyone's mind. None of them wanted to keep swimming to and from the ship everyday. 

"I'll get the devices. We'll need to be in the Command Center to calibrate them." Alpha said and began walking out of the rec room. 

"Thank God we don't have to keep swimming." Kimberly said as they followed Alpha. "My new phone may actually survive this week." 

"Speaking of phones," Valentina said, "why haven't we all traded numbers yet?" 

"I guess we hadn't thought about it," Juliana shrugged. 

"We are an embarrassment to our generation," Daisy deadpanned as the entered the Command Center. 

"Shut up," Jemma said with a roll of her eyes, "and hand me your phone." 

They all passed their phones around as they waited for Alpha to join them in the Command Center with their teleportation devices. When Trini got her phone back, she noticed that Daisy had saved her name with a skull emoji beside it and Kimberly had added a pink heart to her contact. Trini suddenly felt self conscious of the yellow heart she had added after her own name in Kimberly's phone, an impulsive move for her, and her face flushed when Kimberly saw the heart and then looked up at Trini with a fucking wink. 

Luckily Alpha came back with the devices in his arms before Trini could make a fool of herself by saying something about the emoji next to her name, or admit that she hadn't done the same for the other four Rangers. 

“I modeled these after what you guys call ‘smart watches’ so you should be able to wear them in public easily.” Alpha handed each Ranger a watch like object with a square face and color-coded bands. They reminded Trini of an Apple watch, but the face had the same galaxy look to it as the displays they had found in the Med Bay and Ranger Cabins. “With some tweaking, they may work like smart watches too, but I don’t have a cellphone to test that.” 

The thought of Alpha-5 having a cellphone was oddly amusing and Trini stifled a laugh as she strapped the device onto her left wrist. 

“I can help with that,” Daisy offered. “I’m pretty good with technology.” 

“Does that include alien technology?” Trini asked teasingly. Daisy shot her a grin and shrugged. 

“Guess we’ll see.” 

“Let’s get them teleporting first, we can add stuff later.” Juliana got everyone back on track as easily as she normally did. “And can we do this quickly? My mom has a late shift so I’ve got to put the twins to bed.” 

“It shouldn’t take too long to calibrate, but you should probably do a test teleport before you actually leave.” Alpha lead them over to the Morphing Grid and instructed them to pull out their Power Coins. 

“The twins?” Valentina asked Juliana as they walked. 

“My little siblings, Alex and Dani. They’re six.” Juliana explained lightly. “I’m sure you’ll meet them both eventually.” 

“If they’re anything like my twin brothers, that’ll be an adventure.” Trini commented. “Pedro and Carlo are nine and a handful.” 

“Does anyone else have secret siblings they’d like to announce?” Daisy asked with a slight laugh. 

“They weren’t a secret,” Juliana rolled her eyes. “You just never asked.” 

“I’m asking now.” Daisy replied. 

“My older brother Kyle is off at college,” Kimberly offered as they moved around to their own pedestals under Alpha’s instructions. 

“My brother Guille is in L.A. and my sister Eva is there too, but she’s waiting for her transfer to NYU to be processed.” Valentina said as she stepped onto the blue pedestal. The group turned to look at Jemma. 

“No secret siblings here,” Jemma said, “the closest thing I have to a brother is my best friend Fitz and he’s still in London.” 

“I don’t have any siblings either,” Daisy shrugged. “Not that I know of anyway.” 

Trini frowned at that and saw Juliana do the same but Alpha called their attention before they could ask Daisy what she meant by that. 

“You need to hold the Coins over the device and think about your own energy in the Morphing Grid. The watches should recognize that signal through the Coins.” 

The girls followed Alpha’s instructions, holding their arms up and balancing the power coins over the surface of the watch. Trini closed her eyes and thought about the yellow string of energy that represented her in the Morphing Grid, how it moved and drifted in the space and was slowly growing closer to the other colors. The Coin grew warm in her hand and there’s a flash of muted yellow light as she opens her eyes. 

“Did it work?” Valentina asked Alpha after all the Rangers had opened their eyes again. 

“Test it out. Teleport to the Pit and back.” Alpha said. 

“How?” 

“Press the button on the side and focus on where you want to go. The watch should do the rest.” 

“Okay,” Valentina took a deep breath and pressed the button. A pixelated beam of blue light covered her body and when it faded, Valentina wasn’t standing there anymore. Trini blinked once while looking at the spot where Valentina had been standing. 

“Do you think she made it?” Daisy asked a second before another beam of blue light appeared in the entrance to the Command Center. “Guess that’s a yes.” 

“Val?” Juliana asked as she moved away from the Morphing Grid to Valentina, gripping her arms gently when Val stumbled a bit. “Are you okay?” 

“It worked.” Valentina smiled at Juliana. “Also, I’m gonna throw up.” 

“Not on the floor!” Alpha pulled a trash can looking object from Trini didn’t even know where and handed it to Valentina moments before she started vomiting. Trini wrinkled her nose at the smell but didn’t complain about it vocally. Juliana pulled Valentina’s hair away from her face and rubbed her back soothingly. It was actually kind of sweet, Trini thought, especially when Valentina wiped at her mouth and leaned into Juliana’s embrace once her stomach was done rebelling against her. 

“So, they work, but we’ll probably blow chunks after the first time we do it?” Daisy asked for clarification purposes. 

“At least we know what to expect.” Kimberly offered with a half shrug. 

“You’re welcome.” Trini chuckled at Valentina’s unamused tone. 

“Thanks for testing it, Valentina.” Kimberly smiled at her friend. “Should we try going to the top of the ravine first?” 

“Sounds like a plan,” Jemma nodded. Trini agreed, thinking that if they missed they’d probably just land in the water like they normally did. Daisy teleported out first and Jemma followed moments later, then Kimberly and Trini herself. 

When the yellow light around her faded, Trini closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nose to fight off her nausea. Jemma had apparently lost that battle and was currently leaning against a boulder as the contents of her stomach fought their way up her throat. Daisy was beside her, rubbing Jemma’s back with one hand and holding the other to her own mouth. Kimberly looked a little woozy on her feet and sat down on the boulder Jemma wasn’t puking next too. Juliana and Valentina appeared at the same time in twin beams of red and blue light. Juliana swayed slightly as she landed but Valentina, looking far more stable than the rest of them, caught her by the waist and kept her from falling over. 

“Well,” Daisy said once they’d all recovered a bit. “That was a trip.” 

“At least our clothes are still dry,” Juliana joked. “I gotta run. See y’all tomorrow.” 

“She’s the only person I know who says ‘y’all’ casually,” Daisy commented as Juliana disappeared in the treeline. 

“Give her a break,” Jemma swatted Daisy’s arm lightly. “She doesn’t say it that often.” 

“I’m waiting for more of those southern contractions to slip out,” Kimberly said with a slight laugh. “I swear I thought the internet made those up.” 

The Rangers left the ravine in thankfully dry clothes and feeling a little better than they normally did after training. Trini felt like maybe, after all this business with Rita was over, they could actually be pretty good friends. Thinking about Kimberly, a surprisingly loud voice in the back of her mind hoped that maybe she and Kim could be more than friends. 

Ignoring that voice was much harder than Trini thought it would be. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all the response to this has been amazing so far and I love all the comments and kudos! Y'all are the best! 
> 
> Also, here's the link to that art I mentioned last time [check it out here!](https://queergeek123.tumblr.com/post/190432728144/this-is-fan-art-for-we-can-be-heros-by)


	6. We Should Start a Band

Kimberly hadn’t realized that someone had asked her a question until a hand waved in front of her face. She blinked and pulled herself out of her thoughts to find Trini, Daisy, Jemma, Juliana and Valentina staring at her with varying levels of concern. Strangely, Trini looked the most outright concerned. Kimberly had expected that to be Valentina since they had been friends since before they found the Coins, but seeing the blatant care on Trini’s face made Kimberly feel oddly warm. 

“What?” Kimberly asked softly, pretending that she hadn’t been unintentionally ignoring the others. 

“Valentina said that you’ve heard her play guitar before and could vouch for her.” Juliana explained looking at Valentina out of the corner of her eye. “Can you?” 

“Oh, yeah,” Kimberly nodded and smiled softly. “She can definitely play, she sings too.” 

“Maybe we can jam sometime,” Trini suggested casually. “I’ll bring my guitar, too.” 

“You play guitar?” Kimberly asked Trini, halfway turning in her seat to look at her. They were sitting outside for lunch that day to escape the stares that followed them everywhere. The outside tables were round instead of rectangular with three benches attached. Trini and Kimberly shared one bench as did Juliana and Valentina, and Daisy and Jemma. 

“And bass.” Trini confirmed with a nod. 

“That would be fun,” Valentina said. “I can usually only get Guille to play a few songs with me and he doesn’t practice as much anymore.” 

“I can play the drums,” Daisy offered, “and the cajon if there aren’t any drums around.” 

“All we need is a keyboard player and we could have a full band.” Kimberly joked softly, eyeing Jemma like she was waiting for an admission. Jemma caught her eye and held up both hands. 

“Don’t look at me, I have no musical talent whatsoever.” Jemma smiled slightly as the others laughed. “I’ll be the band manager.” 

“I can play piano,” Juliana admitted. “Kind of. I haven’t practiced in years.” 

Valentina looked intrigued at that admission and Kimberly was too but Juliana didn’t offer anymore information. Instead she looked at Kimberly. “I guess that makes you the lead singer.” 

“Who said I can sing?” Kimberly said. Valentina rolled her eyes. 

“You did, at your fourteenth birthday party when you demanded we play karaoke for three hours.” Valentina smiled cheekily at Kimberly when she leveled a glare at her. 

“You had a karaoke birthday party?” Trini sounded far too amused. 

“No,” Kimberly grumbled lowly. “We just happened to do karaoke at the party.” 

“Oh my god,” Daisy smiled widely. “We should totally start a band.” 

“Yes, with our abundance of free time,” Jemma rolled her eyes. “Perhaps that would be an idea for after we defeat Rita.” 

Jemma’s words had a sobering effect on them. There had been several reports in the past few days of people going missing on and around the docs, and when they were found they looked like anything that could have possibly been metal had been forcibly ripped out of them. Zordon said that Rita was gathering gold to create her monster Goldar, who she would use to dig up the Zeo Crystal. 

“We need to figure out where the Crystal is,” Juliana broke the silence that had covered them after Jemma’s statement. “We can’t protect something we can’t find.” 

“I think I have an idea about how to do that, I’ll work on it once we get to the ship.” Valentina’s arm brushed against Juliana’s. Kimberly was honestly surprised that they weren’t holding hands. 

“Are we sure we can protect it anyway?” Kimberly wasn’t sure why she asked that. While they hadn’t morphed yet, they had made a lot of progress on the fighting front. Still, that annoying voice of doubt in the back of her mind refused to shut up. 

“We have to try, unless we want that vision to come true.” Juliana looked down at her empty lunch tray. Kimberly shuddered at the memory of the vision Zordon had shown them when they first found the ship. So much pain and darkness, and it would all happen if they didn’t stop Rita. Before anything else could be said, the bell signaling the end of the lunch period rang and the Rangers gathered up their trash. 

“We’ll have to start training a little later today,” Juliana said as they rose from the table and carried their trays inside. “Mom doesn’t get off until after three.” 

“We’ll meet at four for training then?” Jemma asked. Juliana nodded. 

“I’ll text if anything changes.” 

The Rangers separated then, each headed for their own class. Kimberly felt eyes on her as she walked away, but she couldn’t tell for sure if it was one of the Rangers watching her or just the normal stares that followed her around since her fall from grace. The students at Angel Grove were apparently very good at holding a collective grudge, Kimberly could feel their judging looks follow her around the school. They were always quick to remind Kimberly of her new social status, especially the cheerleaders who glared and mocked her when she walked by. Kimberly suspected that they were the ones responsible for the words written across her locker. There had only been one or two sayings that morning, but the surface was covered with disgusting words when Kimberly returned to her locker at the end of the day. 

She blinked away the tears that threatened to fall as she opened her locker, jumping slightly when she felt someone approach her. A small hand gripped her locker door and pulled, the metal bending under their grip. When Kimberly turned her head to see who had broken her locker, she was surprised to see Trini there. She must have followed Kimberly to her locker from their shared biology class last period. 

“Get your stuff,” Trini said in a surprisingly gentle tone. Surprising because judging by her expression, Trini would be happy to set the school on fire and watch it burn. 

“What?” Kimberly asked, stunned. 

“Get your stuff,” Trini repeated, gesturing at Kimberly’s books with her free hand. Kimberly did as instructed in a daze, pulling a light sweater she had forgotten was even in her locker and a couple of textbooks out. 

“Okay…” Kimberly hadn’t meant for the word to come out as question, but there was pronounced upturn anyway as Trini began leading them down the hall. They passed an open classroom door and Trini tossed the locker door into the room where it landed with a loud clatter. 

“You don’t need a locker.” That was the only explanation given and then Trini and Kimberly were running down the hall from the angry teacher who came stomping out of the room. They didn’t stop running until they reached Kimberly’s car on the far side of the junior parking lot. There, they leaned against the car, panting slightly. 

“I think we need to add cardio to our training,” Kimberly said between gasping breaths. “We have superpowers, we shouldn’t be this winded.” 

Trini laughed slightly and helped Kim adjust the things her arms so she could pull the door open. Kim dumped her things into the backseat along with her bag and gestured for Trini to do the same asking, “Want to get some coffee before training? We’ve got time.” 

“Sure,” Trini’s smile was easy and soft in a way Kimberly hadn’t seen before. Trini threw her bag into the back and then walked around the car to climb into the front seat on the passenger side. Kimberly did the same on the driver’s side, wondering why she suddenly felt so nervous. She was just getting coffee with a friend, right? A friend she was admittedly at least a little but attracted to, but that was fine. Wasn’t it? 

“Thanks for that, back there,” Kim said as they pulled out of the parking lot. 

“You’re thanking me for breaking your locker?” Trini sounded amused. 

“I guess I am.” Kimberly wasn’t sure if that was true. Part of her felt like she was thanking Trini for just caring enough to check up on her. She knew she’d been distant all day and she was sure the others could sense that. The more they trained, the more intune with one another they became. Kimberly was sure they would see the results of that when they tried to morph before training later. 

“You’re welcome.” The way Trini says that makes Kim feel like she knows what Kimberly was actually thanking her for. Kimberly smiles at her and pulls into a parking spot at a little coffee shop a little ways away from the heart of the city. It’s not as crowded as Krispy Kreme and the coffee is much better. 

They head inside and order coffee and a piece of chocolate cake to split before finding a table near the front corner. It’s nice to be in a public space and not have everyone in the vicinity staring at her, Kimberly thinks. It’s even nicer to sit there with Trini, chatting about nothing in particular as their coffee and cake slowly disappear. By the time they reach the last little bit of cake, Kim feels more relaxed than she had since before she punched Ty’s tooth out. 

Feeling playful, and a little bold, Kimberly stabs her fork into the center of the last bite of cake, a challenging glint in her eyes. Trini smirks back at her and moves to try and steal the piece. Kimberly slides it away and Trini’s fork meets the table instead. She tries again with the same result. Kimberly is full on grinning as she and Trini playfully fight over the cake, flipping her fork in her hand so the cake is raised up. Trini leans forward and tries to take a bite but Kimberly blocks her with her hand. Their forks slide together in a mock sword fight until Kimberly’s is thrown up, out of her hand. They catch it with their arms crossed across the table, both of them smiling widely. 

It’s then that Kimberly sees the glint of color in her peripheral vision. The cake falls back onto the napkin as Kimberly and Trini hastily hid their arms beneath the table. Their arms that were partially covered in a metallic looking armor. Kimberly hadn’t even noticed it appear but she couldn’t deny the evidence. She and Trini had managed to partially morph in this quiet coffee shop while flirtatiously fighting over a piece of chocolate cake. Trini looked as stunned as Kimberly felt. 

“Did we just…” Trini trailed off as she pulled her arm back up, the yellow armor having disappeared. 

“I think so,” Kimberly’s arm was also bare again. “Should we tell the others?” Part of her didn’t really want to. Part of Kimberly wanted to keep this moment with Trini to herself, like a hidden treasure. 

“I don’t know,” Trini checked the time on her phone. “But we should probably get to the ship.” 

“Let’s go,” Kimberly nodded. “We can teleport there from my house. I need to drop off my car.” 

As they left, Kimberly wasn’t sure if she felt so giddy because they had partially morphed, or because her mind kept calling the time she spent with Trini a date. 

~

Valentina was the first to arrive at the ship with a bag of extra clothes thrown over shoulder. She figured that if they had their own rooms on the ship, they might as well be used. Her bag was mostly full of extra workout clothes so she wouldn’t have to go home and change clothes everyday, but there was also a notebook and a map of Angel Grove in her bag too. She put her clothes away in the blue cabin but brought the map and notebook with her back into the Command Center. 

Valentina had a theory that since the Zeo Crystal was a source of energy, the Morphing Grid could be used to track it. If she could separate all the little signals from the large signal, she might be able to find the coordinates and then she could use the map to figure out where the Crystal was buried. She explained the theory to Alpha-5 as she settled along the edge of the Morphing Grid and he agreed that it could work if she could separate the energy signatures from each other. 

The Morphing Grid looked different without all the other Rangers there actively tapping into its power. This time when she looked into the Grid, Valentina couldn’t see their colors slowly growing closer together the more they got to know one another. She didn’t feel that pressure in her chest that she was starting to think was the source of her armor trying to break free. The energy was softer now, drawing Valentina in deeper. She felt like the Grid was trying to show her something but she was looking to hard. It was like the secrets of the Grid were there, right in front of her, but Valentina wouldn’t be able to see them until her focus relaxed. 

It took a few minutes for Valentina adjust her vision to what the Grid wanted her to see. When she finally did, the answers she had halfway expected to become crystal clear only moved a little closer. Just out of focus, a path within the Grid was appearing. It was glowing a dull green color, which made it hard to differentiate the path from the ambient energy of the Grid itself. Valentina grabbed her notebook and traced the path the Grid drew out for her with her pencil. It took several pages and Valentina was careful to keep them in the correct order. It took her nearly ten minutes to trace out the full path, the Grid marked the end with a small, green triangle. A moment passed and then the image of the path appeared repeated. 

Valentina took a few minutes to number the pages of her notebook and then tore the pages with the path trace on them out. She unfolded the map of Angel Grove and spread it out on the floor around the Morphing Grid. Oblivious to the voices that indicated more of the Rangers had arrived, Valentina focused on lining up the path from the Grid along the map itself. The Grid helpfully replayed the path for Valentina, the image circling to her whenever she moved to look at it from another angle. She was dimly aware of the other Rangers watching her, she thought it was Daisy and Jemma who had arrived, but they didn’t interrupt her. Valentina didn’t acknowledge them until after she had traced the entire path onto the map with her pencil. It wasn’t dark enough to easily see. She looked up at them. 

“Do either of you have a pen?” Valentina asked. “Or a marker?” 

Daisy fished a black Sharpie out of her bag and tossed it at Valentina. “What are you doing?” 

“Finding the Zeo Crystal.” Valentina bent back over the map and traced over the imprint she had made with the Sharpie. 

“How? We have no idea where to look.” Jemma came closer to look at the map Valentina was creating. 

“The Grid showed me,” Valentina answered without looking up. 

“What do you mean the Grid showed you? It can do that?” Daisy looked up at the wall where Zordon normally resided. His face appeared from the pixels. 

“The Grid holds many secrets,” Zordon said cryptically, “you need to discover them for yourself.” 

“Which is what Valentina has done,” Alpha-5 looked up at Zordon. “It’s normally easier for the Blue Ranger to understand the Morphing Grid.” 

“Why is it easier for her?” Jemma asked. Valentina also looked up curiously as well, but she was only half listening to the conversation.

“It’s part of the Blue Ranger’s role on the team,” Zordon explained. “The Blue Ranger serves as a connector, many Ranger teams would have fallen apart if not for the Blue Rangers inherent compassion.” 

“So, Val’s like our emotional and spiritual guru?” Daisy asked, looking at the girl in question. Valentina was looking back at the map again, apparently ignoring the conversation around her. Zordon looked like he would have covered his face with his hands if he still had them. 

“I will never understand the human mind,” 

“Me either, Zordon.” Alpha-5 waved his hand sympathetically. 

“No way,” Valentina said suddenly, an amused lilt to her voice, “that’s amazing.” 

“What’s amazing?” Daisy asked as she looked at the map. She only saw the lines Valentina had drawn and the triangle that she guessed was the crystal. 

“I’ll be right back,” Valentina didn’t offer an explanation as she activated her teleporter and disappeared in a flash of blue light. 

Valentina appeared in an alley downtown, holding her cellphone in her hand and comparing the photo of the map she had taken to her surroundings. She had to cross the street to line the angles up correctly but once she did, she was certain of it. 

The Zeo Crystal, the source of all life on earth and a fragment of the most powerful force in the universe, was buried beneath a Krispy Kreme. 

When Valentina appeared back on the ship, she was laughing loudly. Daisy and Jemma watched as Valentina folded up the map and left the Command Center to put it away in her cabin. They tried to get Valentina to explain what was so funny, but every time she tried to explain, Valentina just laughed harder. 

“What’s so funny?” Kimberly asked when she and Trini arrived in twin beams of pink and yellow light, each of them holding a cup of coffee in their hand. 

“Don’t ask,” Daisy and Jemma said in tandem. “She’ll just laugh harder and not explain anything.” Daisy continued with a vague gesture in Valentina’s direction. 

“Where is Juliana?” Zordon asked as his head moved along the wall so he was closer to where the Rangers stood. 

“She had to watch her siblings for a little bit,” Valentina said with a small giggle. She cleared her throat and tried to control her mirth as she pulled her phone out to check the time. “She should be here soon.” 

“Good,” Zordon’s head moved like he was nodding. “Rita is becoming more powerful each day. You must morph as soon as possible.” 

“I thought we still had a few days until Rita was at full strength?” Trini questioned, her tone hard. 

“We still may, but it is imperative that we are prepared for an earlier attack. There’s something that we think might help the six of your morph. Alpha will show them to you after Juliana arrives.” 

“I thought you couldn’t help us morph. Isn’t that something we have to figure out on our own?” Daisy looked back and forth between Zordon and the other Rangers. 

“It is, but we can perhaps give you some motivation.” Zordon paused as a red light filled the room and Juliana appeared in the Command Center. 

“Um, hi?” Juliana said when she noticed everyone staring at her. “I know I’m not late so why is everyone staring at me?” 

“Sorry,” Valentina apologize for the group at large. “We don’t mean to stare at you, you just appeared in the middle of a tense conversation.” 

Juliana’s expression hardened from the soft way she looked at Valentina as her gaze turned to Zordon. “What’s going on?” 

“Apparently Wall Dad thinks Rita may be attacking sooner than originally planned.” Daisy spoke up as she and other Rangers came to stand beside Juliana. Jemma stood next to Daisy while Trini and Kimberly filled the line out next to Valentina on Juliana’s other side. 

“How soon?” Juliana’s voice was colder than Valentina had ever heard, the lines of her neck tense as she glared at Zordon. 

“I am unsure,” Zordon stared back at Juliana, “Alpha calculated that we would have at most eleven days before Rita would be strong enough to attack, but she could be ready far earlier than that. You must not underestimate Rita’s power.” 

“How soon, Zordon?” Juliana demanded again, clearly agitated with the way Zordon avoided the question. 

“Anytime. Rita could attack anytime now.” 

The silence that followed Zordon’s admission was suffocating. They were supposed to have more time, Valentina thought. They were supposed to be able to morph before Rita showed up. They were supposed to have a chance to defeat her. Suddenly it felt like they had no chance at all. Like they were just children playing at being superheroes. Valentina could see the realization of that settle over each of the Rangers as they deflated. The strength that her friends had just started to embody left them far too quickly. 

“Why didn’t you tell us this before?” Juliana spoke lowly, still glaring at Zordon. She was the only one who still seemed strong. Valentina thought that Juliana was angry, and that her anger made her look strong, but she probably felt just as low as the rest of them. 

“I had hoped I wouldn’t need to. I hoped you would be able to unlock your power already.” 

“We’re not strong enough, are we?” Daisy shoved her hands into her pockets. “We’re not enough.” 

“You will be enough.” Zordon’s words didn’t inspire any confidence in them. “Once you morph. You have the power within you.” 

“And if we can’t unlock that power in time? What happens then?” Kimberly said loudly. Valentina could feel the tentative connections that had started to make being pulled at. She wasn’t sure they would survive the tension. 

“I believe you already know.” 

They did. They remembered the vision Zordon had shown them. It was hard to believe that not even a week had passed since they were shown those horrible images. So much had changed in such a short time. They had changed so much. They had gone from strangers, people who would likely have never spoken to one another outside of class, or even in class for that matter, to friends. These girls had become people that Valentina enjoyed spending time with, in the cafeteria or in the Pit. They were people that Valentina could laugh with and could fight with and was starting to trust in a way she had never let herself do before. They were finding their strength within each other. That strength that Zordon’s lack of faith ripped away. 

“We may having something can help you morph,” Alpha said slowly after a long stretch of silence. “You won’t be able to use them yet, but they may help motivate you.” 

“We could probably use a little motivation right now. Not that it will matter.” Juliana muttered darkly. Valentina watched her straighten her shoulders and lift her chin, the natural understated authority setting over her shoulders as she turned to look at the others. “Head to the Pit. Alpha can show us what ever this motivation is after we train.” 

Daisy looked like she wanted to argue, but Jemma touched her arm and she quieted. Valentina hear her mutter as she left, “maybe we should have started a band. That seems less complicated than this ranger shit.” 

Valentina was almost inclined to agree. She lingered in the Command Center with Juliana for a moment as the others left. Juliana looked at her. 

“Go to the Pit, Val,” it was a request this time, not an order. “I’ll be there in a minute.” 

“Hey, Juls,” Valentina stepped a little bit closer to her as her voice dropped to a whisper. “Don’t pay attention to what he says. Zordon isn’t a Ranger anymore. He doesn’t know what we can and can’t do.” 

“Sure, Val,” Juliana gently squeezed the hand that slipped into hers. “Go. I’ll catch up.” 

Valentina nodded and leaned in, pressing a short kiss to Juliana’s cheek before she let go of her hand and walked out of the Command Center. As she left, she heard Juliana take a deep breath as she turned to face Zordon. 

The others were waiting in the Pit, robotically going through the motions of wrapping their hands for training. 

“Where’s Juliana?” Jemma asked when Valentina joined them, grabbing her own tape and unrolling it. 

“She’ll be here in a minute.” 

“She chewing Zordon out?” Daisy asked while stretching her arms out. 

“Something like that,” Valentina started wrapping her own hands, trying not to think about the defeated look in Juliana’s eyes and the feeling of Juliana’s soft skin beneath her lips. 

~

“Why didn’t you say anything before? Why didn’t you offer to help us morph sooner?” Juliana stood in the Command Center, arms crossed over her chest. She felt hyper aware of the Power Coin in her back pocket, of the energy in the Morphing Grid a few feet behind her. Anger and defeat warred within her. Anger at Zordon for having such little faith in her and the others, at herself for letting another man make her feel weak again. She promised that she wouldn’t do that again after her father went to prison. “If you’re so worried about Rita attacking before we’re ready, why didn’t you give us every advantage we could get.” 

“It is not the Power Ranger way,” Zordon’s voice is low, unemotional. It only serves to increase Juliana’s anger. “Each team must find their own way to unlock the Morphing Grid. The power cannot be given to you, you must earn it. You, Juliana, must lead your team to it. That is the way of the Rangers.” 

“Screw the way of the Rangers!” Juliana ran an angry hand through her hair. “We’re not like every other Ranger team Zordon. We’re different.” 

“Yes,” Zordon agreed. “You’re human.” 

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Juliana glared up at him and she could the truth of her words in his face. “Because you think it is. Why? Are humans too weak to handle being a Ranger? Is that what you think of us?” 

“I do not think you are weak, Juliana. I think your emotions cloud your judgement, even now. You’re angry and your anger is pulling you away from your team. Emotions have no place on a team of warriors.” 

“That’s bullshit, and you know it.” Juliana jabbed her finger in the air at Zordon. “This whole time you’ve been telling us to feel one another in the Grid. All of this is emotional. You just think we can’t handle it.” 

Zordon remained silent, watching Juliana with an unemotional gaze. There were so many things Juliana thought about doing. She could leave, teleport out of the ship, drop her Coin somewhere in the mines and pretend that all of this had been a bad dream. She could yell and rage at Zordon for his lack of faith. She could convince the others to leave, too. Return the Coins, let someone else deal with the war Zordon couldn’t end before. But Juliana wouldn’t leave without the others. She didn’t think she could. They would find her, they would remind Juliana that she had something resembling a group of friends now, a group that she couldn’t walk away from. She wouldn’t be able to convince them to leave either. They all knew that they were the only chance the world had of surviving Rita’s attack, however slim that chance may be. Something clicked in Juliana’s mind as she thought about Zordon’s insistence that her team morphs soon. 

“Why do you want us to morph? Don’t say because we’re Power Rangers and we need to morph to access our real power. What’s the real reason?” Juliana waited, not looking away from Zodon who seemed hesitant to answer. 

“I believe I could be of help in the battle against Rita. I knew her for many years before she betrayed us, I know how she fights. When your team forms the connection that will allow you to fully morph, the Grid will unlock for a brief time. When that happens, I can step through the Grid and return to life. I will be able to be the Red Ranger again.” 

“You want us to unlock our power, just so you can reclaim yours?” Juliana’s emotions rolled within her. Of course, she thought. Zordon didn’t think they could actually fight Rita. Why would he? They were a bunch of kids. They didn’t know the first thing about being heroes. Juliana didn’t know anything about leading a team. She barely knew how to have friends. Of course Zordon wanted to come back and reclaim the Red Coin. 

“That is not what -” 

“That’s exactly what you meant,” Juliana cut him off. “You said it yourself. You’ll be able to be the Red Ranger again.”  _ You won’t need me. The team won’t need me. The team won’t want me.  _

“I am not the Red Ranger anymore, Juliana.” Zordon’s low voice echoed in the empty Command Center. “The Red Coin chose you.” 

“Maybe it chose wrong.” 

Juliana didn’t give Zordon a chance to respond and walked out of the Command Center. 

~

Juliana looked somewhere between heartbroken and pissed off when she joined them in the Pit. She brushed Valentina off when she tried to ask what happened, gently but in a way that surprised the other Rangers. Juliana was acting cold, dejected. Even when they barely knew each other, Juliana had always been a warm presence. Comforting, reassuring, a strong base standing in the middle of the storm that the other Rangers could latch onto. None of them were used to Juliana pushing them away. 

“Alpha, let’s see this big motivation. We can train later.” 

There was an almost downcast look to Alpha’s expression as he followed Juliana’s orders and lead the Rangers down a curved path in the caves. Alpha seemed to know what was happening in the ship at all times, so Daisy thought he must have overheard whatever happened between Juliana and Zordon. 

“Part of the abilities you’ll gain once your armor manifests is the ability to pilot the Zords,” Alpha explained as they walked, “You need the armor to properly connect to the control system, otherwise you’d be able to pilot them already. Zords take on the form of the most powerful creatures on the planet. When these Zords reached earth, dinosaurs roamed the land.” 

The six Rangers rounded the last curve and found six mechanical beasts slowly whirring to life. They were each massive, towering above the Rangers in the large cavern. 

“We call this the Roost. It’s where the Zords stay when not being used.” Alpha said. 

The Zords moved closer to them, spacing out a little so the Rangers could see all of them. A red tyrannosaurus rex stood in the center, with a blue triceratops and a black mastodon on either side of it. A white tiger stood next to the mastodon and a yellow tiger stood on the other side of the line up, next to the triceratops. Above them, a pink pterodactyl hovered gracefully. The Rangers stared at them in the same kind of disbelieving awe as when they first found the ship. 

Daisy wasn’t sure how the Zords were supposed to serve as motivation for them. Why show the team something that they can’t even use yet? She couldn’t see any hope or insipiration in the other’s expressions. Juliana looked even more dejected than before. It wasn’t enough. 

Feeling like she wasn’t enough was something that Daisy was sadly far too familiar with. She had been bounced around from foster homes and orphanages for the better part of sixteen years. Every time she thought that maybe she found a forever home, she was abandoned again. It wasn’t a feeling Daisy enjoyed. She didn’t like having to prove to the people around her that she was enough, but it was a cycle she was constantly in. And, for better or worse, it was a cycle that was going to repeat at least one more time. 

While the other Rangers followed Alpha back to the Pit, Daisy moved closer to the mastodon Zord, searching for the access point. The giant beast kneeled when Daisy approached, the covering of cockpit fading away so Daisy was able to climb up the mastodon’s front leg and settle into the pilot seat. Controls flew into her hand as the cockpit cover slid back into place. An experimental flick of the wrist made the Zord jerk forward and Daisy smiled. She could do this. 

That thought proved to be false. 

The mastodon crashed through the mountain side as Daisy was thrown around the cockpit. She had no control over the Zord, the controls in her hands were there only as something for Daisy to hold on to. She couldn’t tell what direction the mastodon was heading in and prayed she hadn’t strayed far from the mines. The Zord spun quickly after narrowly avoiding colliding with a car on the highway, and raced back in the direction they had come. It burst through the mountain side again before coming to an abrupt halt. The cockpit opened so Daisy could step and she realized that she had crashed right into the Pit, and accidentally buried the other Rangers in the rubble. 

“What the fuck were you doing?” Juliana demanded as Daisy jumped down to the group. Her clothes were covered in dust and her eyes burned with anger. 

“I didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Daisy held her hands up apologetically, looking at the others. Valentina was coughing slightly as she helped Jemma to her feet. There was a red stain on Jemma’s white t-shirt. Daisy could feel the guilt in her stomach rising even more as she turned and saw Kimberly tearing off a strip of her shirt to hold against Trini’s bleeding head. 

“Alpha just said we can’t control those things! Why can’t you listen for once in your life!” 

“I said I’m sorry.” Daisy yelled back, getting defensive. She hadn’t meant to hurt anyone, honestly she didn’t. She just wanted to prove that she was enough. She wanted to prove, to the others and to herself, that the Black Coin hadn’t made a mistake in choosing her. 

“Are you really?” Juliana demanded, fists clenched. Daisy read the challenge in her eyes and stepped into her space. 

“Fuck off, Juliana. I said it was an accident.” 

Daisy wasn’t expecting Juliana to retaliate with a fist instead of words, so the right hook Juliana landed blindsided her. It wasn’t a full-force punch, but Daisy could definitely feel it, and she wasn’t about to let it slide. Trini tried to step between them as Daisy shoved Juliana away from her, but she pushed Trini away too. Juliana was glaring at her when Daisy raised her fist to return the hit before a burst of energy separated them. 

“Stop fighting!” The voice that spoke was heavily modulated, the face of the speaker hidden behind a blue helmet. Daisy and Juliana stopped glaring at each other in favor of looking at the blue armor that had suddenly enveloped Valentina. “What are you looking at?” 

“That’s dope,” Trini said as she moved closer. Valentina’s hands moved, turning over and back before reaching up to touch the helmet that covered her head. 

“I morphed?” 

“You morphed,” Juliana confirmed in a tone of voice none of them could identify. 

“Daisy, do not touch it.” Daisy ignored Valentina’s words and as her hand neared the armor covering Val, it faded from view. “What happened?” 

“Get out!” Zordon’s booming voice filled them Pit. “Training is over for today.” 

“You’re kidding right?” Kimberly stood on a rock and directed her words at the ceiling of the cave. “You saw that, didn’t you? She just morphed.” 

“Do it again. Any of you. All of you.” 

They turned to Valentina expectantly and she closed her eyes, concentrating hard. The blue armor didn’t appear again. 

“If you can’t morph, then you aren’t Power Rangers yet.” Zordon said. “Leave.” 

“C’mon guys,” Juliana brushed the dust off of her clothes and pulled her arm up to touch the teleportation device. “Let’s get out of here.” 

They teleported out of the Pit one by one and appeared at the top of the ravine. For a moment no one said anything. 

“I don’t feel like going home yet,” Daisy said, “and I’ve got some drinks and snacks, a place to light a fire. Bonfire anyone?” 

They all silently agreed to stay out for a little bit and followed Daisy through the woods, each of them wondering if they would ever really be Power Rangers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! 
> 
> To the people who have sent me asks on Tumblr that I haven't answered yet, I'll get to them as soon as I can. It's been very busy for me lately and that's only going to get worse but I have looked at them, and all the comments on this fic and they make my day! 
> 
> See y'all next week!


	7. Are We Friends?

For a while, the only sound around them was the crackling of the fire Daisy had built. It was a little unnerving to Jemma. She had just gotten used to the loud, rambunctious nature of the group. They were always talking, or laughing, or groaning, or some combination of all three depending on what they were doing. Listening to the group of them sit in silence seemed almost unnatural. 

Evidently, Jemma wasn’t the only one who felt that way. Valentina had teleported away and then returned a moment later with her guitar in her hands. She settled back on her chair and began to play a mindless tune. 

“Sorry,” she apologized when she was settled again. “It was too quiet.” 

“It’s okay.” Juliana offered Valentina a soft smile. It was the first time Jemma had seen something other than anger on Juliana’s face since they left the ship. The look in her eyes was so soft, intimate almost, Jemma felt like she should look away. A look like that was only meant for one person. When Jemma looked away, her gaze landed on Daisy who was looking at the bandage on Jemma’s arm. 

“Daisy?” Jemma asked, covering the bandage with her hand. The motion seemed to snap Daisy out of her thoughts and she looked from Jemma’s arm to her eyes. 

“I’m sorry, Jem,” Daisy said softly, glancing at the bandage and then back to Jemma’s eyes. “I really didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” 

“I know, Daisy,” Jemma stood up from her seat, ignoring the glances sent her way by Kim and Trini, and moved to a seat beside Daisy. She took Daisy’s hand in her own, rubbing her thumb across Daisy’s knuckles. “It’s okay.” 

“It’s not.” Daisy shook her head, glancing over at Juliana.

“Juliana’s right. I wasn’t thinking. We’re lucky you and Trini weren’t seriously injured.” 

“We’ve all made mistakes, Daisy.” 

“You didn’t make your teammates bleed.” Daisy muttered, pulling her hand out of Jemma’s. Jemma frowned as Daisy moved away from her. 

“Daisy…” Jemma tried to reach out again but Daisy only pulled further away. 

“Teammates,” Trini said lowly, pulling Daisy and Jemma’s attention to her. “Is that what we are?” 

Valentina’s soft strumming faltered for a moment and silence covered the group again. Daisy plopped down into a half broken chair across from where she had been sitting before. The move put more space between her and Jemma physically, but that was no match for the emotional distance that had stretched between all six girls. Jemma didn't think they had been further apart before then they were now, not even that first night in the mines. At least then they were all talking to one another. Here, the silence was deafening. 

"I had hoped we were friends," Jemma broke the stifling silence. Valentina's nails tapped an unsteady rhythm against the body of her guitar. 

"We are friends," she said softly. "Aren't we?" 

Truthfully, Jemma wasn't sure. She knew she cared about these girls. She wanted to see them be happy and she didn’t like seeing them upset, but that didn’t automatically make them friends. They knew virtually nothing about one another. Sure Jemma knew their fighting styles and if they preferred braids over ponytails, but she couldn’t name their favorite colors. She’d known Juliana for months and she’d only just learned about her twin little brothers. They didn’t know they important stuff, the stuff that should connect them beyond whatever mystical powers the Coins held.

“No,” Kimberly shook her head, staring into the fire with a vacant gaze. “We’re not strangers, but we’re not friends either.”

“Well, maybe we should change that,” Valentina resumed playing her guitar in a melody that was vaguely familiar to Jemma. She knew she’d heard the song before, but she couldn’t remember the name of it.

“Why bother?” Daisy asked lowly. “It’s not like we’re real Power Rangers, anyway. There’s nothing to force us around each other.”

“I don’t want to be friends with you all because we’re forced to spend time together.” Jemma shook her head, her gaze lingering on Daisy’s black leather clad form. Daisy had turned away from the fire and was looking out over the mountain side. “I like hanging out with you, powers or not.”

“We’ve only hung out because of the Coins. Being Power Rangers is the only thing that connects us.” Daisy didn’t turn around but there was something about her voice that seemed almost haunted. A weight that Daisy had always carried but that Jemma hadn’t noticed until just then.

“That’s not true.” Valentina’s strumming didn’t falter. “The Coins don’t make us sit together at lunch, or drive from school to the mines together. The Coins chose us, each of us for a reason. They don’t force us to get along.”

Valentina had a point, Jemma thought. The Coins hadn’t forced Daisy to go out and buy each of them their own rolls of athletic tape, the Coins hadn’t forced them to explore the ship together or spend time with one another outside of training. All the bonding they had done so far, that came from them. Not from the Coins. The Coins made them a team, they don’t make them care about one another.

“Why don’t we forget about the Coins for a little while?” Juliana suggested after another stretch of silence. She glanced sideways at Valentina and then around the circle. Daisy turned to look over her shoulder in Juliana’s direction. “We already know each other as Rangers. We don’t know each other as people.”

“So, you want us to what? Join hands and sing kumbaya?” Kimberly’s voice was teasing and she looked more present than she had since they arrived at Daisy’s hidden place.

“I was thinking more along the lines of just talking.” Juliana shrugged. Jemma watched curiously as Trini and Kimberly shared a significant glance. Trini’s gaze remained on Kim even after she turned her head to look away.

“Yeah, okay, good idea Juls.” Valentina smiled at her. “I’ll go first. My name is Valentina Carvajal.”

The others chuckled lightly at Valentina’s introduction, saying “Hi, Val,” in almost unison.

“And I,” Valentina continued, “I’m not sure what I am. Or I’m not sure I am what people think I am. I know people at school think that I’m too nice, too naïve, but they don’t bother to ask why. I watched my mom die when I was seven. I watched cancer destroy her body until she was nothing but skin and bones. And the whole time, Mom was happy. I never saw her without a smile on her face. Right before she died, I asked how she could be so happy when she was so sick. She said it was because there was already enough sadness going around. If she could help one of us just by smiling at us, then that’s what she would do. That’s what she did until her last breath. I watched my dad mourn for her, and my brother and sister, they changed after she was gone. We weren’t as close. I didn’t just lose my mom that summer, I lost my whole family. Nobody was happy anymore.

“I try to be happy all the time because I remember what Mom said to me. Sometimes all someone needs to feel better is to see someone smile at them. If I can help people, even in that small way, then I will. But trying to be happy all the time doesn’t make me happy. Actually, I was mostly just lonely.”

“Was?” Juliana asked softly when Valentina paused.

“I’m not as lonely when I’m with all of you. I don’t have to pretend to be happy here. I just am.”

Another heavy beat of silence passed as the group digested Valentina’s words. Daisy turned completely around towards the fire again, looking at Valentina with sympathetic eyes.

“I get that, the being lonely.” Daisy paused, seeming to steal herself for a moment before she continued. “My name is Daisy Johnson, and I’m an orphan. I don’t know who my birth parents are, they disappeared when I was a baby. I grew up being passed around from foster homes and orphanages. I was only adopted a month ago, right before my new parents moved here. I’ve never had a family before.”

Jemma’s heart broke a little at the downcast expression of Daisy’s face but she refrained from saying anything. She felt like Daisy had more to say.

“It’s different, having Phil and Melinda around. I know they want me to be a part of their family but I don’t feel wanted. I feel like a burden to them. Like I’m too much trouble and they’ll send me back, just like everyone else I’ve ever cared about has.”

“You’re not a burden to us, Daisy.” Jemma said, her voice carrying over the fire pit to where Daisy sat. Jemma caught her eye and gestured at the bandage on her arm. “This was an accident. It could have happened to any of us.”

“But it didn’t. It happened to me, because of me.”

“No, Jemma’s right,” Juliana leaned forward slightly. “You didn’t mean to do it and I shouldn’t have yelled at you for it or punched you. I wasn’t even mad at you. I’m sorry.”

“’s okay,” Daisy shrugged her shoulders slightly. “You were right, too. I was being reckless. I just wanted to prove that I belong here.”

“You don’t have to prove that to us.” Jemma gestured at the assembled group.

“You don’t have to prove that to Zordon either,” Juliana said fiercely. “None of us do. We belong here.”

“I’ve never felt like I belonged anywhere,” Trini said. Daisy looked over at her in surprise. “My family moves around a lot. I’ve been to six different schools in five years. It got easier once I stopped making friends. My parents don’t have to worry about my relationships so much.”

“Boyfriend troubles?” Daisy’s teasing question was met with tense silence from Trini. “Girlfriend troubles?”

“My family is so perfect,” Trini muttered. “Too perfect. Anything that doesn’t fit that perfect image isn’t allowed. They’ll never accept me.”

“We do.” Valentina stopped playing and looked at Trini. “You’re not alone here, Trini.”

Trini and Valentina shared a look of understanding as the double meaning in Valentina’s words clicked in their heads. Of course Trini wasn’t alone.

“No you’re not,” Jemma offered Trini a small smile when she looked over at her. “I know it’s hard to come to terms with it. For a long time, I thought I just wasn’t interested in dating. I had no time for it, being a child prodigy. Why bother with dating when I could work on winning a Nobel Prize before I turn 25?”

“You’re really gonna wait that long?” Daisy’s teasing remark was ignored but did help ease the tension a bit.

“It wasn’t until my best friend Fitz kissed me at a birthday party that I put it together. I’m interested in dating, but I’m not interested in dating men. Once I accepted that, it got a little easier. Especially once we moved here. Questioning my sexuality was difficult enough, I can’t imagine having to process that and moving from city to city at the same time.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with you, Trini,” Valentina said softly. “You’re not wrong or abnormal for feeling the way you do.” 

“It’s easier to say that than it is to believe it.” Daisy’s voice was low, but not unkind. She turned towards Trini, her eyes lingered on the butterfly bandage that held the cut on Trini’s forehead closed. “But we’ll keep reminding you until you do believe it.” 

Trini looked like she didn’t know how to respond. Jemma had never seen such earnestness on Trini’s face before. There was something rising in her chest, a feeling that Jemma had once equated to her friendship with Fitz. A comfort and familiarness that settled around her shoulders, made her feel a little more at home. She hadn’t felt that way since she came out to Fitz two years ago. 

“Can someone like, crack a joke or something?” Daisy asked. “These long silences are starting to get awkward.” 

The others chuckled a bit as the tension broke. 

“Not a joke but,” Valentina looked at Jemma. “How did you end up in detention?” 

“Oh, well,” Jemma’s cheeks tinged a faint shade of pink. “I needed to test the chemical compound I was planning to use in the mines and I may have overestimated how much I would need for a successful test.” 

“And?” Daisy prompted, leaning forward slightly in interest. 

“She blew up the AP Chem lab.” Juliana deadpanned. 

“I did not blow it up,” Jemma insisted as the other girls cracked up. “There was only a small explosion that left some scorch marks on the ceiling.” 

“You were in detention for making something blow up?” Kimberly asked through her laughter. 

“No, actually, I was in detention because I made something blow up without getting permission first.” 

The group descended into laughter once more, Jemma herself even offering a chuckle of her own. They would calm down for a moment and then one of them would glance at Jemma, who would smile sheepishly and shrug and the laughter would start up again. Finally, as the group calmed down, Jemma turned to Valentina. 

“Why were you in detention?” 

“Drinking in the library,” Valentina shrugged. “I wasn’t the one drinking but I was the one caught with the flask. The others ran off while I was getting a book.” 

“Wow, nice friends.” Daisy sad. Valentina shrugged again. 

“I’ve got better ones now.” She said with a smile. “What about you Juls? Why were you in detention?” 

“I heard it was because you got into a fight in the hallway between classes.” Jemma said softly. The others looked at her curiously. “What? The high school rumor mill is always active. I hear things.” 

“I wasn’t actually in a fight,” Juliana said. “Some idiot tripped over his own feet and slammed his face into a locker. I tried to help him up but he knocked the shit out of himself. He ended up falling backwards and I was standing in the hall with his blood on my hand when the teacher came to see who was making all the noise.” 

“Did you explain what happened?” Valentina asked softly, leaning her arms on her guitar. 

“No point. I apparently have a reputation around here for being a troublemaker. I was told I’d get suspended if I fought the detention so I just went with it.” 

“Call me crazy, but I can’t really see you being a troublemaker.” Kimberly said. “You don’t have the temper for it.” 

“Why do people think that about you, anyway?” Jemma asked. She knew about Juliana’s reputation, and the protection it offered her once they started sharing a lunch table. “You’ve never been anything but kind to me.” 

“I was in pretty bad shape when I moved here three years ago. People made assumptions and I never bothered to correct them so the rumors kept growing. I decided I liked it more than everyone knowing the truth and talking about me because of that.” 

Juliana had a faraway look in her eyes as she spoke in an oddly detached voice. It was like she was trying to remember something without fully letting herself feel it. Her expression almost made Jemma not want to ask what the truth actually was, and she hesitated. Sure they had all been sharing one secret or another, but just because everyone else did doesn’t mean that Juliana was expected to. Or Kimberly, who had remained oddly quiet. 

“I know you want to ask,” Juliana said after she had come back to herself. She looked at Valentina for a long moment and then cast her gaze around the circle, looking each girl in the eye for a second before her gaze returned to the fire. “It’s not a happy story.” 

“We’ll tell happy stories next time we have a bonfire.” Valentina had put her guitar down so it leaned against her seat and turned slightly so her whole body was facing Juliana. Jemma thought that Valentina would have reached out and held Juliana’s hand if there wasn’t just a little too much space between them. 

“I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in San Antonio. We lived in a trailer park for awhile until my mom got pregnant with the twins, then we moved in with my grandma. She taught me to play piano. She used it to distract me from my parents fighting all the time. My dad wasn’t a good man. He had connections to cartels and trafficking rings, the only thing he did more than fight was drink. He was always angry when he was drunk and he took it out on me.” 

Silent tears rolled down Juliana’s face but she still spoke with that detached voice. Valentina scooted closer to her but refrained from reaching out. Juliana seemed to be almost trapped in her own head, like she couldn’t stop the words now that she’d started talking about. 

“It wasn’t so bad at first, but the more he drank the worse it got. One day I got home from school late and Chino turned his anger onto my mom. He beat her so badly, it triggered premature labor and the twins were born nearly two months early. We didn’t have insurance and the twins needed so much help to even survive. I had hoped the beatings would stop since Chino had to leave all the time to get the money we needed, but they got worse when he came home. 

“He wasn’t arrested until the twins were three years old. When the cops showed up, Chino was standing over me. My arm had been broken in two places, and I had so many bruises on my stomach the doctors were worried I had broken ribs. He had nearly broken my nose too, so I was covered in blood. Chino got life in prison, and once I was released my mom decided we didn’t need to be in Texas anymore. We moved in with a family friend out here until my mom had earned enough money for us to get our own place. That was three years ago.” 

The silence that covered the six girls as Juliana’s story ended was suffocating. Valentina was crying then as well, silent tears running down her cheeks as she moved from her chair to the bench Juliana sat on and pulled the other girl into a hug. Jemma knew her own eyes were wet with tears, the only thing that matched the sadness she felt for Juliana was the anger she felt at Juliana’s father. She could never understand how people could do something so awful to their own family. Jemma felt a presence beside her moments before an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Jemma turned her head slightly as Daisy pulled her close, taking in the tense set to Daisy’s jaw. There was a protective gleam in her eyes, and in the eyes of Trini and Kimberly. They looked as if they would travel to Texas right then, just to beat the shit out of Juliana’s dad. 

Jemma didn’t normally condone such violence unless absolutely necessary, which she felt it was in this case. 

“Sorry,” Juliana apologized as she pulled out of Valentina’s embrace. “I don’t know where all of that came from.” 

“Don’t apologize.” Valentina, Jemma, Daisy, Trini and Kimberly said in stereo. 

“It came from needing to let it out, and trusting us to listen.” Valentina pulled Juliana flush against her side and dropped a kiss against her hair. 

“I guess I have been holding it in for a while.” Juliana shifted a bit so she could lean against Valentina more comfortably. Daisy’s arm fell from around Jemma’s shoulders to around her waist instead. Jemma let her own hand fall onto Daisy’s thigh and rest there. She couldn’t tell for sure from that angle, but it looked like Trini and Kimberly might have been holding hands as well. It was comfortable and warm. Jemma thought that if they had tried to morph then, they might have managed it. She’d never felt closer to these girls than she did just then. 

It was even enough to keep her from noticing that Kimberly hadn’t offered any stories of her own. 

~

They started slipping away one by one soon after. Kimberly was the first to go, throwing a small smile and a wave over her shoulder as she left. Juliana noticed the way Kimberly’s gaze lingered on Trini for a moment before she left and couldn’t help the way her own eyes were drawn towards Valentina. They had moved away from each other a little bit after their emotional conversation died down. Well, Juliana had moved away. The warmth of Valentina right next to her, the weight of her arm resting around Juliana’s shoulders made her feel far more relaxed than she was accustomed to. Valentina didn’t protest when Juliana moved away, even though it looked like she wanted to. Instead, she picked her guitar back up and started playing. The tempo was a little more upbeat this time, like Valentina was trying to lift their collective spirits by the sound alone. 

A few quiet conversations started and ended as Juliana moved a little ways away from the fire and sat on the ground, her legs dangling over a small cliffside. It wasn’t nearly as large a drop as the one they had been taking daily to get to the ship, but it was enough for Juliana to be able to lean back and stargaze while her legs swung back and forth. She felt oddly drained from the conversation but she couldn’t deny that something had changed in them because of it. She could feel the others more clearly now, until they left she could even tell them apart. Trini left after Kimberly, Juliana could feel her presence fading away until it was just a barely there nudge in the back of her mind. Jemma and Daisy left together a few moments later. Juliana had glanced up when she felt them walking away and saw their hands clasped together as they walked and smiled a bit. 

Juliana wasn’t blind to the connections forming within their group, some of which were decidedly not platonic in nature. She’d seen the evidence of it happening in the Morphing Grid the last time they had tried to morph. She’d seen their energies slowly become more aligned with one another, she’d seen the red strand that represented her latch on to Valentina’s blue strand and not let go. It wouldn’t be long before the other four strands had paired off as well, which was almost amusing. Juliana chuckled lightly, the sound drifting across the mostly empty space to where Valentina still sat with her guitar in hand. Who knew a bunch of alien coins meant to create a team of superheroes could be such good match makers? 

“What’s so funny?” Valentina asked as she approached Juliana, taking a seat beside her. Juliana glanced over at her. Valentina was silhouetted in the light of the dying fire, her skin glowing with a soft light that matched the look in her eyes as she smiled at Juliana. Juliana thought she looked beautiful, always, but something about that moment stood out to her. 

“Nothing,” Juliana shrugged as best she could in lounging position. Valentina surveyed her for a moment and then laid down beside her. Their hands met in the small space between their bodies and their fingers tangled together. “I was just thinking about how we’ve all seemed to pair up.” 

“We have, haven’t we?” Valentina squeezed Juliana’s hand. “Trini and Kimberly, even if neither of them have admitted it yet. Jemma and Daisy left together, it’s probably only a matter of time before they make that unspoken thing between them a spoken thing. And us,” 

“And us?” Juliana asked when Valentina trailed off. She felt Valentina tense slightly beside her and thought that if they had been standing up, Valentina would have done that little bounce on the balls of her feet that she does when she’s nervous about something. 

“I think there might be an unspoken thing between us, too.” Valentina admitted softly. 

“Yeah,” Juliana agreed and turned her head to look at Valentina. “Do you want it to stay that way?” 

“No,” Valentina shook her head. “But if you do, that’s fine. We can stay friends.” 

“I don’t want to be just friends with you, Valentina,” Juliana sat up, her eyes on Valentina for a moment before she looked out over the mountain side. “But I’ve never done this before.” 

“I haven’t either,” Valentina sat up as well. Juliana looked at her questioningly. “I mean, I’ve gone on dates and things, but not with anyone that I really cared for. Not the way I care about you.” 

“I’ve never even been on a date,” Juliana shrugged slightly in response to Valentina’s silent question. Valentina accepts that as enough of an answer and releases Juliana’s hand so she can reach up and brush Juliana’s hair away from her shoulder. Her fingertips ghost across Juliana’s neck and she feels Juliana shiver slightly. 

“Well, I’d love to change that. If that’s what you want?” She asks with a smile. There’s no hint of expectation in her expression. Juliana knows that if she says no, Valentina will accept that and they’ll change topics. She knows Valentina won’t leave, she’s not that kind of person, but part of Juliana is still terrified of saying yes. She’s not used to letting people close to her anymore. Then, Juliana thinks, letting Valentina in had been as easy as breathing. Valentina had slipped through the tiny cracks in Juliana’s walls that she wasn’t even aware of, and the other four girls had followed in behind her. Juliana finally knew what it was like to have friends. Juliana knew what it was like to have someone who was always going to be more than a friend. 

“I do.” Juliana reaches out slowly and settles one hand against Valentina’s waist. “After we defeat Rita,” she sounds strangely confident to her own ears. “Once the dust settles a bit.” 

“It’s a date.” Valentina brushes her fingers through Juliana’s hair and smiles softly. Juliana smiles back at her and scoots a little closer. Her arm slipped around Valentina’s back until they ended up in a one-armed embrace. Valentina turned her head and tucked her nose against the crook of Juliana’s neck where her shoulder and neck met. Her breath tickled Juliana’s skin and she shivered slightly. Valentina drew back a little. “Are you cold?”

“No,” Juliana shook her head, suddenly feeling short of breath. She hadn’t realized how close she and Valentina had gotten until just then, when Valentina lifted her head a bit and Juliana could feel the warmth of her breath against her lips. Their noses almost touched. The way Valentina’s eyes flickered down to Juliana’s lips and then back to her eyes was unmistakable even in the dim light of the dying fire. Juliana started to lean in and then paused. Valentina’s breath caught in her throat. 

“Do you want to stop?” Valentina isn’t sure if there’s anything that she wants Juliana to stop doing. Not the way they can’t seem to break eye contact, or the way Juliana’s thumb had started rubbing gently against the fabric of Valentina’s shirt near the small of her back. Not the way Valentina’s fingers played with the ends of Juliana’s hair, or the way her head had started to tilt as Juliana drew closer and closer. Juliana glanced at Valentina’s lips for a second. Valentina didn’t want any of that to stop. 

“No. I don’t want to stop.” Whatever was happening between them, this connection that had drawn her in so easily, Juliana didn’t have the strength to fight it. She didn’t want to fight it. She wanted to drown in it, to plunge in head first despite the fears that whispered in her mind and told her she wouldn’t be enough. Juliana leaned in, Valentina met her in the middle, and the brush of their lips together was enough to silence those fears. 

Valentina’s lips were warm as they pressed against Juliana’s with a faint taste of vanilla. They molded to Juliana’s effortlessly, they moved together in the same sort of dance that they had seen in the Morphin Grid. When they parted for a moment to breath, Juliana could feel the flutter of Valentina’s eye lashes against her cheek. Their lips pressed together again, longer this time but with the same soft urgency. Valentina pulled Juliana closer by the waist and Juliana’s hand slid up to Valentina’s hair, the other resting on the nape of Valentina’s neck. 

They rested their foreheads together when their lips pulled apart sometime later. Valentina’s eyes were still closed but Juliana had opened hers and was staring at Valentina in an awestruck wonder. It was funny really, out of all the things that had happened to her over the past week, with the Power Coins and Zordon and the Zords, kissing Valentina was the thing that had her wondering if this was all a dream. She could handle aliens and giant robots and mystical powers, but believing that someone as incredible as Valentina wanted to be with her stretched her limits. Juliana smiled slightly as Valentina’s eyes opened. 

“Okay?” Valentina asked softly, squeezing Juliana’s waist. Juliana nodded and shifted closer, resting her head against Valentina’s shoulder. They laid back, looking up at the stars together. Juliana couldn’t resist the urge to press her lips against Valentina’s t-shirt covered shoulder and smiled when she felt the answering kiss pressed against her forehead. 

“Perfect.” 

~

Trini can feel Kimberly lingering around the edge of the mines as she walks away from the bonfire. She’s surprised to feel her so close, Trini had thought that Kimberly would have teleported home after making her own exit a few minutes before. That had been Trini’s plan, until she realized how close Kimberly was to her. She could feel her presence close by stronger than she could the others who were still at the bonfire. They were becoming a faint tingle in the back of her mind whereas Kimberly she could sense and follow a path directly to her. 

"I thought you were headed home?" Trini asked as she spotted Kim further down the path and caught up to her. 

"I am," Kimberly glanced at her and then away. "I'm just taking the scenic route." 

"Right," Trini rubbed at the healing cut on her forehead. It had already scabbed over and would probably he completely healed by morning. Part of Trini wondered if it would scar. 

"Does it hurt?" Kimberly asked as she pulled Trini's hand away from the cut. "You made it bleed a little bit." 

"No it's fine." Trini felt her face heat slightly as Kimberly stopped walking and turned to her, angling her head up a little so Kim could see the cut in the dim moonlight. That definitely wasn't from the pain. "I can't even feel it." 

Kimberly nodded slightly and reached into her pocket. "Here, I took some of these from the Med Bay. They should keep it closed until it scabs back over." 

Trini held perfectly still as Kimberly carefully placed a butterfly bandage over the cut, one of Kimberly's hands cupping Trini's chin as the other smoothed out any wrinkles. In the dim lighting, Trini couldn’t differentiate between the dark brown of Kimberly’s eyes and the black of her pupils. Normally, Trini could see the way the brown faded into black, a pattern she had traced again and again when her and Kim locked eyes of the Morphing Grid. Of course Trini was aware that everything about Kimberly is beautiful, but something about her eyes had always drawn Trini in that much more. Not that she would be admitting that anytime soon. 

“There, that should keep it from bleeding until it heals.” Kimberly’s thumb traced Trini’s cheekbone lightly in a repative stroke. Trini could feel her cheeks growing warm at the touch. 

“The healing factor is great. Alpha said it won’t even scar.” 

“You’d still be just as beautiful even if it did.” Kimberly’s thumb stilled against Trini’s skin as her own words registered in her mind. She was suddenly grateful for the absence of light around them but Trini’s low chuckle told her that she could see her blush anyway. “I, um, I’m sorry about your family. That must suck.” 

“It does.” Trini pulled away slightly so Kimberly dropped her hands back to her sides. “But not as much anymore.” 

“It’s amazing what having friends can do for someone.” Kimberly chuckled slightly. “If that’s what we are.” 

“Well, we’re not Rangers.” Trini brushed over the tinge of bitterness in her voice. “But I like being friends with you.” 

“Me, too.” Kimberly offered Trini a small smile and they began walking again. They walked quietly together before a thought struck Kimberly and she laughed slightly. “Although, I don’t think the word ‘friends’ applies to Juliana and Valentina.” 

“Oh, definitely not,” Trini chuckled as well. “In fact, twenty bucks says they’re back at the bonfire, making out now that everyone is gone.” 

“I’ll take that bet.” Kimberly bumped their shoulders together. “I say they kissed, but they’re not making out.” 

“We’ll have to weasel an answer out of them once this is all over.” Trini returned the bump, halfway noticing that the treeline was beginning to thin out. They were reaching the edge of the forest. 

“I’m sure Daisy will handle that for us.” Kimberly’s steps slowed down as they broke through the treeline just behind her house. The kitchen light was on, which meant her parents were home and Kimberly was more than likely going to be on the receiving end of yet another lecture about responsibility since she was most definitely out past curfew. Trini paused beside her. “Thanks for walking me home.” 

“Oh,” Trini looked at Kimberly’s house, her voice ringing with surprise, “Uh, anytime.” 

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow? For training?” Kimberly half turned to Trini. 

“If Zordon lets us in the ship.” Trini smiled slightly as she stepped back into the trees. “I’ll see you tomorrow Kim.” 

Trini disappears into the treeline heading for her own home. Kimberly watched her go, thinking about the way Trini had smiled at her, how soft her skin felt beneath Kimberly’s hands. She wondered if Trini’s lips would be that soft, too, before shaking her head and wondering where  _ that  _ had come from. Kimberly lingered in her backyard for a moment before turning towards her house. She could wonder about how soft Trini’s lips are later, for now, she had another lecture waiting for her. 

(No that she actually wanted to know how soft Trini’s lips are. It was just an observation, innocent curiosity. It had nothing to do with the way Kimberly’s stomach flipped and fluttered when Trini had smiled at her before running off. 

No, not related to that at all.) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The girls are getting closer, some more than others lol. Hope you enjoyed!


	8. Are We More Than That?

Trini walked downstairs slowly, seeing her parents already dressed and ready for church. Her dad fiddled with Pedro’s tie and her mother brushed invisible lint off of Carlos’s shoulders. They looked like they always did, the picture perfect family. Trini didn’t fit in with her dirty converse, bomber jacket, and beanies. A stair squeaked under Trini’s weight and June looked up at her from near the door. 

“I take it you aren’t going to church with us?” June asked, her voice walking the line between accepting and annoyed. Trini could only hear the annoyance. 

“I’m meeting up with some friends to study for bio.” Trini put her hands in her back pockets, feeling the metal of her power coin against the palm of her left hand. 

“Okay,” June nodded. “Just don’t stay out too late. I want us all to have dinner together tonight.” 

“Yeah sure,” Trini’s sure her voice reflects the surprise she feels. She’d expected her mother to pick a fight with her about going to church, like she normally did on Sunday mornings. Instead, Trini got permission to go and even a smile from her mother. 

“Wait, why doesn’t Trini have to go to church?” Pedro asked as he was ushered out the door. 

“Trini’s old enough to decide for herself.” Trini’s father answered, glancing back at June as she followed him out. 

“When you’re 16 you can decide too…” June’s voice trailed off as the front door closed. Trini blinked at the wooden surface once and then again. 

“Am I dreaming?” Trini asked out loud. She halfway expected her mother to come back in, force Trini to change into a dress and then frog march her to the car for church, but she could hear the family car pulling out of the driveway. Before Trini could consider pinching herself--or knocking her head into the wall--to check that she’s not dreaming, her phone buzzes in her jacket pocket. 

‘ _ Training delayed until this afternoon. Coffee?’ _ It was a text from Kimberly. Trini did her best to ignore the way her lips pulled into a smile at the sight of Kim’s name on her phone with the pink heart emoji beside it. 

_ ‘I’ll meet you there.’ _ Trini sent the reply and finished making her way downstairs. 

‘ _ Why don’t I pick you up? We can go to training together after’  _

_ ‘If you want too, I mean.’  _

The two texts came in one after the other. Trini smiled slightly, happy that her admission at the bonfire the night before hadn’t seemed to affect her growing friendship with Kimberly. Pushing down the odd surge of affection that Trini was just getting used to feeling around the others--and ignoring the soft ways that the affection she felt for Kim was just  _ different _ \--Trini replied to Kim’s message with her home address and moved to the living room to wait for her. 

Kim got there faster than Trini had been expecting, she could feel her coming closer. If she focused, Trini could feel the other Rangers too, not quite well enough to know exactly where they were but enough to know that she could find them easily if need be. It was harder to distinguish between their energies, though, to say who was where, but Trini could feel the smallest undercurrents of personality there too. The closer Kimberly got to her house, the easier it was for Trini to feel her, separate her from the others in the cloudy haze of her Ranger sense. By the time Kimberly pulled into her driveway and pulled her phone out to text the yellow Ranger, Trini could almost pinpoint Kimberly’s exact location and how fast she was moving. She was out the door before Kimberly finished typing her text. 

“How’d you know I was here?” Kimberly asks as Trini climbs into her car, hitting the button on her phone to lock the screen where the half typed message to Trini remained unsent. 

“I could feel you,” Trini shrugged as she put her seatbelt on. “Once you got closer, I could tell it was you and that you were here. You can’t sense me?” 

“I guess I wasn’t paying attention to it,” Kimberly shook her head to clear it from the thoughts that had suddenly rose up, mostly about how she  _ had  _ sensed Trini the closer she got to her but had shoved that sense away and dismissed it as her own confusing excitement at spending more time with just Trini. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to weird you out,” Trini rubbed at her jeans self-consciously as she spoke, glancing at Kimberly out of the corner of her eye. 

“No, you didn’t,” Kimberly took one hand off the steering wheel and reached out to cover Trini’s hand. Trini stopped rubbing her jeans at the contact. “At least no more than I’ve been weirded out since we met Alpha.” 

“That’s fair.” Trini chuckled lowly, smiling a bit when Kim echoed the sound. Trini flipped her hand over beneath Kimberly’s so their palms touched and squeezed Kim’s hand. Kimberly squeezed back and then took her hand back so she could make the turn to the street with the coffee shop. “I told my mom that I’m pretty sure I’m a superhero now and she tried to make me pee in a cup.” 

“Oh my god,” Kimberly laughed, “probably shouldn’t tell her about Alpha or the alien living in the wall of our spaceship.” 

“Oh she’d definitly make me pee in a cup.” Kimberly laughed again at Trini’s deadpan tone as she parked the car. They climbed out of the vehicle and walked into the coffee shop together. Their conversation stalled a bit as the ordered coffee and a slice of cake to share. Luckily the coffee shop wasn’t too crowded so they got their orders quickly and were able to retreat to a small table in the back corner. 

“Why was practice pushed back?” Trini asked once they had settled into their chairs. Kimberly shrugged. 

“Dunno. Val texted me and said Juliana had something to do this morning and we’d meet up sometime this afternoon.” Kimberly took a sip of her almost too hot coffee and for a second marvelled at the little affect the heat of the drink had on her. It was warm, sure, but not burning hot like she had expected which was new. 

“Why didn’t Juls text all of us?” Trini’s question was mostly hypothetical so she wasn’t expecting the way Kim’s lips quirked into a half-devious smirk as she answered. 

“Maybe she was too busy doing Val,” 

“Oh my fucking god, Kimberly.” Trini groaned after letting out a shocked chuckle. Kim’s grin turned even more devious. 

“That’s probably what Val was saying too, minus my name. I doubt Juls would appreciate that very much.” 

“Please. Stop.” Trini threw her crumbled napkin across the Kim. It bounced off Kimberly’s nose as she laughed. 

“Okay, okay,” Kimberly cut the slice of cake in half and slid one part of it across the table to Trini. Their eyes met for a moment, both thinking about the last time they had been here. Before Daisy had crashed her Zord through the mountain and knocked Trini and Jemma down hard enough to make them bleed, before Valentina fully morphed for the first time, before Zordon kicked them out of the mines for night because Val couldn’t do it again. Kimberly’s gaze flickered up the now fully healed cut near Trini’s hairline and almost couldn’t believe how much had happened in the last 24 hours. 

“Do you think Zordon will let us back in the ship today?” Trini asked after clearing her throat. 

“Probably. He can’t stop Rita without us.” Kimberly set her fork down, her expression shifting to one of contemplation. “Do you think all of this is real?” 

“I think the giant mechanical robots and the talking wall proved that to me,” Trini thought back to her mother’s departure that morning and how that interaction had seemed less real than being a Power Ranger. “It still feels like a dream sometimes though. Not the powers or the Coins but like the connections we have because of them. I never thought I’d be this close to a group of people so quickly.” 

“Me either,” Kimberly sipped at her coffee. “That bonfire last night was nice, we should do that more often.” 

“What? Expose all our deepest secrets in between jokes and music?” Trini smiled but her eyes were knowing. She was fully aware that Kimberly had been the only one to not share her deep, dark secret the night before. Kimberly swallowed at the look, the earnestness and the understanding and the complete lack of pressure directed towards her. Trini knows that Kimberly hadn’t told her secret, the one thing that might be holding them back from making that final connection and morphing. Trini knows and she’s not expecting Kimberly to come out and say it. Her eyes are knowing but not angry or demanding. 

“Something like that,” Kimberly can’t bare the soft the look in Trini’s eyes and looks away. She stares down at the table, watches the way Trini drums her fingertips against the edge before she slides her hand across the surface and covers Kimberly’s hand with her own. She watches the way the muscles in Trini’s hand flex when she closes her fingers around Kimberly’s, watches the smallest hint of something metallic and yellow peeking out from Trini’s knuckles. 

“Kim,” Trini calls softly, and the emotion in her soft voice almost startles Kimberly. Almost, but not quite, because if she’s learned anything about morphing from her and Trini’s partial morph and Valentina’s full morph the day before, it’s the process is emotion based. She can feel it ringing in the bond they share, with Trini close and Kimberly feeling so much. She could feel her Coin heating up in her pocket and sees the pricks of pink beginning to dot her arm before she looks up at Trini. “You don’t have to tell me what your big dark secret is, but if you want to talk about, I’m not going anywhere.” 

“I-I want to talk about it, but it’s hard. I’m not used to having…”  _ someone like you _ , Kimberly wants to say. Someone who makes Kimberly like she’s flying, like she could do anything, like she was worth something more than being arm candy for a teenage douchebag who had probably been cheating on her the whole time they were together. “Friends.” 

“What about your old group?” Trini hasn’t taken her hand away but the yellow metal is slowly retreating as she and Kimberly both calm down a little bit. 

“The rich and popular,” Kimberly knows she sounds bitter and doesn’t do anything to hide it, “none of us were ever really friends, except maybe Valentina. Besides, I couldn’t talk to them about this even if I wanted to.” 

“But you do want to talk about it?” Trini asks as she squeezes Kimberly’s hand again. Kimberly hadn’t noticed that their joined hands had moved until just then, both meeting one another halfway across the table instead of Trini stretching all the way across it. 

“Yeah, just not yet,” Kimberly glances around at the mostly empty coffee shop. A man in a green t-shirt a few tables down from them looks her way for a moment and then turns back to the woman sitting across from him in a light pink jacket. “Not here.” 

“Whenever you’re ready,” Trini let’s go of Kimberly’s hand and finishes her coffee and cake. “We should get to the ship. Maybe we can find the armoury before training. If Rita’s as bad as Zordon says, I’m sure having weapons will help us more than it will hurt.” 

They leave the coffee shop together and this time when they climb into Kimberly’s car to drive to her house, Kimberly doesn’t hesitate to reach across the space between them and rest her hand on Trini’s. When they make it to Kim’s house and start hiking up to the ravine, Kimberly lets her hand slip into Trini’s again, lets their fingers fold together and notices the slight calluses on her fingertips. She’s not surprised by them after knowing that Trini can play the guitar, she’s felt the same bumps on Valentina’s hands before. But Kimberly had never reacted this way when Valentina touched her arm or held her hand, had never wanted to stop their walk and push her against the nearest available surface so she could find out if her lips were as soft as the skin around those calluses. That reaction had nothing to do with the calluses and everything to do with the fact that it was Trini’s hand she was holding, Trini’s lips that she wanted to kiss. 

As much as she wanted too, Kimberly didn’t stop them. She didn’t push Trini up against a tree and connect their lips even though every part of her wanted too. She kept walking, kept her hand in Trini’s and promised herself to tell Trini what had happened between her, Amanda, and Ty. She’d lay herself bare to Trini, get it all out and not just what happened with her old friends but also these new emotions swirling in her chest that only ever surface when she thinks about Trini. After that, if this is something that Trini wants with her, if Trini feels the same way that Kimberly does maybe Kimberly will get to learn exactly what Trini’s lips feel like pressed against hers. 

~

Jemma looks up from her cell phone when she hears footsteps coming down the hall. It’s Daisy, Jemma thinks, that she can feel coming into what they had dubbed the Rec Room of the ship. Jemma knew that Daisy had been dying to get her hands on the alien tech there, maybe fix up the machines that Alpha had said could make food for them. As the self-proclaimed technology expert, Daisy probably had a better chance of fixing anything on the ship than the other Rangers did. 

“Hey, Jem,” Daisy looked unsurprised to see her and it took Jemma a moment to realize that if she could sense Daisy then surely Daisy could sense her. “I didn’t think anyone else would be here.” 

“I didn’t feel like being home alone. My parents had to travel to Seattle for a conference.” Jemma explained with a bit of relief. Her parents had left that night and wouldn’t be back until the next Saturday, after the deadline for Rita’s attack. Daisy nodded and moved over to the mechanical tubes on the other side of the room from the couch. Which was surprisingly comfortable. “You think you can fix the tubes?” 

“I’ll probably need some help from Alpha,” Daisy was crouching down to look at the mechanisms under a hatch on the bottom end of the smaller tube that Jemma hadn’t noticed before. “This looks more advanced than the watches he made.” 

“A fancy stove is more advanced than a teleporter?” Jemma asked, her voice amused. Daisy looked over her shoulder at Jemma. 

“A fancy, alien stove is more advanced than a smart watch which is essentially what these are,” Daisy held up her left wrist which was adorned with her black teleporter. “It’s easy enough to connect a phone to a watch. It’s much harder to make food appear out of thin air.” 

“You say that like you’ve tried it before.” Jemma pulled one of the six hovering chairs from the table in the room over to where Daisy was crouching. Daisy shrugged slightly. 

“Wishes that didn’t come true,” Again, Jemma hears the underlying heaviness in Daisy’s voice. Now that she’s aware of it, and the likely cause of it, Jemma wonders how she hadn’t noticed it before. Daisy always seemed so happy and carefree, it was easy to overlook the defensive glint in her eyes and the way she ate so quickly. Daisy probably wasn’t used to having a stable, reliable home life and it broke Jemma’s heart to realize that whatever fears Daisy still had about her situation more than likely included not knowing where her next meal was going to come from. 

“Oh, well,” It’s painfully clear that Jemma doesn’t know how to respond to that and when Daisy looks at her, she can see the realization written across her face. 

“It’s alright Jemma,” Daisy says as she stands up, “I know it’s not something that I have to worry about anymore. Old habits die hard.” 

“I know, I’m sorry. I just hate that you had this habit in the first place.” Jemma plays with a loose strand on her sleeve of her sweater and follows Daisy back to the couch. Daisy sighs as she plops down on to one of the cushions. 

“Don’t apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong. I hate that I have this habit too and I’m working really hard to overcome it. I spent sixteen years being forgotten about and left behind, it’s gonna take more than a month to get over that.” Daisy leans her head back against the couch as she feels Jemma sit beside her, closing her eyes at the memories that surface. The foster homes that had her starving and too skinny when she inevitably returned to the orphanage. At least those were better than the ones that left her bruised and bloody. Better than the worst home she had ever stayed in, which had left her bruised, bloody, starving, and unwilling to trust any male authority figure for nearly two years. 

“I hate that you had to go through that, no one deserves that kind of treatment.” Jemma sees the tense set of Daisy’s jaw and the way her hands clench into fists. All she wants to do is comfort Daisy, soothe the ache of whatever memory she’s trapped in however she can. After a moment of internal debate, Jemma props her elbow along the back of the couch to card her fingers through Daisy’s loose hair. 

“It’s better now. Phil and Melinda, they’ve been good to me so far. And the adoption paperwork has already gone through so it’ll be a lot harder for them to return me.” Daisy says the words in a joking tone but her smile is strained. It breaks Jemma’s heart to see the genuine fear in Daisy’s expression. The fear that she won’t be enough, that her new family will want to get rid of her. Thinking back to the apology she had said to Jemma and her story about not being wanted from the bonfire the night before, Jemma begins to wonder just how deep that fear runs. 

“Tell me about them,” Jemma makes herself more comfortable on the couch and continues stroking Daisy’s hair. 

“About Phil and Melinda?” Daisy opens one eye to look at Jemma, her features relaxing slightly as Jemma keeps playing with her hair. 

Jemma hums an agreement. “If they won your trust they must be pretty good people.” 

“They are,” Daisy shifts slightly, inching closer to Jemma. “They were my foster parents for a few months before the adoption went through. I was so shocked when they said they wanted to adopt me. It was the longest I had been in a foster home and I’d been waiting for them to tell me to get lost for weeks when they showed me the paperwork. Phil has this old red convertible that he’s teaching me to work on…” 

Jemma listens as Daisy continues describing how her adopted parents had earned her trust. Her fingers only falter in their steady movements through Daisy’s hair when she shifts along the couch to drop her head onto Jemma’s shoulder. Jemma silently repositions her arm so it drapes around Daisy’s shoulders. Daisy reaches up with one hand and plays with Jemma’s fingers as she speaks, using her other hand to make large gestures that emphasize her words. Daisy talks and talks and Jemma wonders if this is maybe the first time that Daisy had ever been able to get everything off her chest without being judged or mocked. She promises that it won’t be the last. She’ll be there for Daisy, always. In every way that she can be. 

Jemma doesn’t try to deny to herself the feelings she has for Daisy. She cares for all of the Rangers, of course. They had quickly become the friends she hadn’t realized she craved, but it was different with Daisy. Daisy didn’t make Jemma feel like she had to be so perfect all the time, like it was okay when Jemma’s brian worked faster than her mouth and made her stutter and stumble over words. With Daisy, Jemma felt relaxed and warm and welcome and she hoped that Daisy felt the same way around her. She thought she did, Jemma had noticed the way their colors had started to intertwine in the Morphing Grid and was fully aware of what that meant. Perhaps she and Daisy weren’t as obviously close as Juliana and Val, but the connection was surely there and Jemma thought that it could blossom into something beautiful. 

Daisy was interrupted by the loud rumbling of her own stomach and Jemma couldn’t help but laugh at the sheepish smile on her face. 

“I was hoping to have the fancy alien stove fixed before that happened.” Daisy covered her stomach with her free hand like she was trying to keep it from making any more noise. 

“I guess that’s my fault then, that you didn’t get it done. I distracted you,” Jemma leaves her arm resting along the back of the couch as Daisy pulls away from her. 

“I don’t mind being distracted by you,” Daisy’s eyes meet Jemma’s flickering down to her lips for a moment before she locks their gazes together again. Jemma feels her mouth go a little dry and unconsciously licks her lips. “Although there are more fun ways of distracting me than this.” 

“Such as?” Jemma sucks in a breath as Daisy leans closer. Her eyes flicker down to Jemma’s lips again and she pauses when the tips of their noses brush together. There’s a silent question in her eyes and Jemma nods her head in response. 

“This,” Daisy closes the gap between them. 

The kiss is soft at first, tentative, and then Jemma’s sliding her hand to the nape of Daisy’s neck and angling her head to deepen the kiss. One of Daisy’s hands finds Jemma’s waist and the other cups Jemma’s chin, stroking her thumb along Jemma’s jawline. Jemma feels Daisy’s tongue teasing at her lips and opens them to her, letting Daisy taste and touch and kiss until neither of them can breathe and they have to pull apart. 

“I agree,” Jemma said once she started breathing properly again. “That was much more fun.” 

Daisy laughs and kisses her again. Jemma can feel Daisy smiling against her lips as she tugs her closer and feels that increasingly familiar warmth blossoming in her chest. Jemma would have been happy to soak up this moment forever, sitting on an alien couch in a spaceship buried beneath a gold mine and kissing Daisy like she couldn’t live without her. The universe, it seemed, had other plans than letting Jemma and Daisy make out. 

“Is that another weird things humans do? Like the staring?” Alpha-5’s robotic voice made Jemma and Daisy pull their lips apart. 

“Yes, Alpha, but not all humans do that,” Jemma’s face slowly turned red as she realized that Alpha wasn’t alone. She and Daisy both looked over the couch and saw Juliana and Valentina standing near the table with Alpha, both girls smirking at the couple on the couch. “That’s more of a couples thing.” 

“Couples? Oh, you mean like mates?” Alpha-5 turned to Daisy and Jemma. “Congratulations! You have successfully mated!” 

“No, Alpha that’s not what-” Valentina’s words couldn’t be heard over the sound of Juliana laughing and Jemma spluttering to explain that no, humans didn’t ‘mate’ exactly in the way Alpha meant and that is not what they had been doing. 

“Humans don’t mate for life?” Alpha sounded genuinely confused and Daisy could almost picture the frown he would have if he had lips. 

“No, we do, but there’s more to it than what we were doing,” Daisy rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, “there’s like a whole process. That was step one.” 

“Looked more like first base to me,” Juliana smirked as Daisy flipped her off. 

“Base? Hmm, seems that human mating rituals are more intricate than initially understood. Fascinating.” Alpha turned on his heel and walked over to the tubes that Jemma and Daisy had dubbed the fancy alien stove. 

“Anyway,” Daisy ran a hand through her mussed hair as Valentina and Juliana moved to sit on the couch with her and Jemma. “What are you guys doing here?” 

“I thought we had to push practice back?” Jemma asked, the blush that had been fading from her face coming back in full force when Daisy leaned back against her shoulder and Valentina sent her a knowing look. 

“We did, but my mom ended up switching shifts with someone so she could take the twins to a birthday party so we came down early. If everyone shows up early, we can start training earlier too.” Juliana explained, sinking back into the couch. Valentina sat beside her with her arm resting along the back of the couch, halfway embracing Juliana. 

“If everyone didn’t show up early?” Daisy prompted with her own teasing smirk. 

“We we’re gonna make out in one of our cabins.” 

“ _ VAL! _ ” Juliana elbowed Valentina’s ribs, her tone embarrassed instead of amused. Valentina laughed. 

“What? They were going to find eventually,” Valentina rubs at her ribs lightly and presses a kiss to Juliana’s hair when she leans against her, muttering under her breath. 

“And we’re not surprised,” Jemma remarked. “The two of you haven’t exactly been subtle.” 

“Because making out in the middle of the Rec Room is the epitome of subtlety,” Juliana rolled her eyes. 

“When did this happen?” Daisy asked casually but Jemma could sense that there was some sort of hidden motivation. “I mean the two of you getting together. Wait, are you together?” 

“Yes,” Juliana answered, sharing a smile with Valentina, “and last night after all y’all had left the bonfire.” 

“Hell yeah,” Daisy pumped her fist. “Trini owes me ten bucks.” 

“You were betting on us?” Juliana asked with a raised eyebrow. Daisy and Jemma both shrugged slightly but only Jemma looked even the slightest bit ashamed. Daisy was totally amused. 

“Obviously, I swear between the two of you and Kim and Trini, the sexual tension was suffocating.” Daisy flopped back against the couch next to Jemma and linked their hands together. 

“We weren’t that bad,” Valentina’s shoulder shook with laughter. Juliana turned her head to hide her face against Valentina’s neck instead of responding verbally. The truth was that they probably were that bad, and had been for some time if the knowing looks Jemma and Daisy sent their way were anything to go by. 

“Agree to disagree,” Daisy smiled and then groaned as her stomach growled again. Jemma laughed and poked Daisy’s stomach. 

“Maybe we should run out and grab a snack before training,” Jemma suggested. Daisy sat up again and looked over to where Alpha had been silently working on the food generators. 

“Hey, Alpha, you think you’ll have those fixed any time soon?” Daisy called out. Alpha’s head twisted around on his body as his hands kept working. 

“Sure, but I’ll need to get them cleaned out and running smoothly before you can eat anything they generate. There’s millions of years of grime in here.” Alpha taped his arm against the metal and a small cloud of black smoke shot out. “I’d give it a few days, at least.” 

“Snack run it is then,” Daisy climbed to her feet and smiled when Jemma followed, still holding her hand. 

“Would the two of you like anything?” Jemma asked. Valentina and Juliana both shook their heads no. Jemma nodded and began leading Daisy out of the Rec Room. Before they left, Daisy looked over her shoulder and winked at the couple sitting on the couch, 

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” 

“Fuck off, Daisy.” Juliana yelled back as Daisy’s laughter echoed off the metallic walls of the ship. 

“Twenty bucks says they’ll be making out when we get back,” Daisy tells Jemma after they teleport up the ravine and start walking into town. 

“There’s no way I’m dumb enought to take that bet,” 

“There’s no way you’re dumb at all Jem,” Daisy bumps their shoulders together, “but if you won’t bet money, how about dinner? Winner picks the restaurant.” 

“And loser pays?” Jemma has a small smile painted across her lips as she pulls Daisy closer by the hand. 

Daisy’s face is just slightly flushed when she says, “I thought I could pay for the first date, since I’m the one asking, and we’ll figure out the details for the second one later.” 

“Alright, you pay for our first date. I’ll pay for the second.” Jemma stops walking as Daisy tugs on her hand. They pause halfway down the trail and Jemma turns to face Daisy. 

“You really want to go on a date with me?” For a moment, Daisy can’t look Jemma in the eyes. She feels vulnerable, unused to letting anyone see behind the facade of strength and casual happiness she always projected. 

“Preferably more than one,” Jemma cupped Daisy’s chin with one hand, gently directing her to look into her eyes. Her thumb strokes along Daisy’s jaw line. “I can’t explain the way I feel about you Daisy, because it’s nothing like anything I’ve ever felt before. All I know is that I want to explore this with you, I want to be with you and I’m not going to leave unless you tell me to.” Jemma chuckled slightly, “Even then, I’m not leaving without a fight.” 

Daisy doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t know if there’s anything she can say so she stays silent and closes the distance between their lips instead. She doesn’t try to deepen the kiss like they had done in the Rec Room instead she just basks in the way Jemma’s arms wrap around her waist and the way she can feel her lips pulling into a smile. She rests her forehead against Jemma’s when they pull their lips apart again. They stand like for a moment and then Jemma takes her hand again and pulls Daisy along the trail. 

~

Juliana and Valentina had made their way out to the Roost and were sitting together with their backs against the rock wall, admiring the great mechanical Zords. Despite Daisy’s teasing remark as she left, Juliana and Valentina didn’t spend too much time in the Rec Room alone, not because they didn’t want to but because neither of them wanted to start something that they probably wouldn’t have time to finish. The chance of getting interrupted was to high and Juliana already felt overwhelmed by everything she felt with and around Valentina. She didn’t need to get all worked up, too. 

“Juls?” Valentina asks when she feels Juliana shift beside her, an odd burst of emotion making her Ranger sense pulse. “Is everything okay?” 

“Yeah, of course,” Juliana answered without looking at Valentina. When she did glance over, she found Valentina already looking at her with an expectant expression and soft eyes. Juliana sighed softly and leaned her head against Valentina’s shoulder. “Sorry, I was just thinking about us.” 

“Us?” Valentina questioned as she leaned her head against Juliana’s. Juliana nodded but didn’t speak. Valentina took a deep breath. “Is it - Do you want to stop?” 

“What? No, Val, not at all.” Juliana sat up and half turned to look at Valentina. She could see the refeife in Valentina’s eyes but there was still concern there too. “That’s not what I was thinking about. I know we just started really being an ‘us’ but I think I’ve been waiting for this my whole life. I don’t want to stop.” 

Valentina looked at Juliana for a moment, studying the lines of her face and the brown of her eyes. She was looking for the words that Juliana couldn’t say yet and she must have found them because a few moments later her eyes widened and she said, “Oh.” 

“Yeah,” Juliana rubbed the back of her neck with the hand that wasn’t holding Valentina’s. “Is that okay?” 

“Of course it’s okay. I don’t want to stop either,” Valentina reached for Juliana’s other hand and squeezed them both. “I’m nervous and maybe a little scared, but I don’t want to stop.” 

“Me, too,” Juliana let her eyes fall closed and leaned against Valentina’s shoulder again. Valentina let go of her hands to wrap one arm around Juliana’s shoulders and the other around her waist. “Maybe we can wait for a little bit? Until after we deal with Rita and you know, save the world.” 

“We can wait as long as we need to. How I feel about you isn’t going to change and when we’re both ready…” Valentina squeezed Juliana closer to her and pressed a kiss against her hair. “We won’t stop.” 

“Thank you, Val,” Juliana lifted her head from Valentina’s shoulder without pulling away from her. “Me encantas.” 

Valentina smiled and tilted her head down to connect her lips to Juliana’s. Juliana lifted one hand to cup the back of Valentina's neck, tilting her head to deepen the kiss. Valentina's hands find Juliana's waist and pull her closer until Juliana is nearly in her lap. Just as Juliana's thinking about sliding her knee up and moving to straddle Val, an obnoxiously loud cough fills the air. They pull apart and find Kim and Trini walking toward them. Trini points at them, her finger moving back and forth through the air. 

"Please tell me that this is a recent development," Trini requests, "as in, happened in the last ten minutes recent." 

"We can tell you that," Juliana says with a slight shrug. 

"But it wouldn't be true," Valentina finishes, laughing as Trini groans. "You owe Daisy ten dollars." 

"I'm not surprised that Daisy was betting on them, but I am a little surprised that you were," Kimberly nudges Trini with her arm. Trin shrugs. 

"I didn't spill all my secrets last night, Hart," Trini ends her statement with a wink. Valentina watches, amused, as her oldest friend's face slowly darkens in a blush. 

"Where are the other two?" Kim asks as she props herself on the boulder beside Juliana and Valentina. 

"They went to get something to eat before training. Apparently making out with Jemma in the Rec Room made Daisy hungry." 

"They were not," Kimberly said through a laugh. Juliana nodded to confirm the answer to the unspoken was yes, they did catch them in the act. "We're going to give them hell for this, right?" 

"Absolutely," Valentina nodded. "It's only fair since Daisy has been teasing us since the day we met." 

"To be fair," Trini interjected, "the two of you were insanely obvious. I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out." 

"And I'm surprised that the two of you haven't figured it out yet," Juliana muttered lowly, just loud enough that Val could hear her but the other two couldn't. Val laughed quietly. 

"I guess we have paired off," Valentina remarked softly as she and Juliana climbed to their feet. "You think they'll figure it out?" She inclined her head in the direction of Kim and Trini as they jumped down into the Pit. 

"Eventually," Juliana shrugged, "let's go get our hands wrapped for training." 

"Right behind you," Valentina let Juliana pull her towards the Pit.

Daisy and Jemma showed back up a few minutes later and were greeted by the sight of the four other Rangers standing in the Pit, eyeing them expectantly. Juliana, Valentina, Kimberly, and Trini had all felt when Jemma and Daisy had got near the ship-and the way they had lingered in the woods for a good five minutes before teleporting to the Command Center. When they finally showed up, Jemma’s face was the slightest bit flushed had Daisy had a cheesy grin plastered across her lips that she just couldn’t seem to shake off. 

“I think we’re gonna have to lay down some ground rules about PDA in and around the ship,” Juliana muttered to Valentina as they prepared to spar against a small group of virtual putties. 

“Hmm,” Valentina hummed slightly and ducked down to place a short kiss against Juliana’s lips. Catcalls sounded from behind them, Val could vaguely hear Jemma and Daisy settling the terms of a bet, but she paid them no mind. As she pulled away, Valentina brushed a stray hair out of Juliana’s eyes and said, “that’s probably a good idea.” 

Juliana rolled her eyes at her girlfriend and motioned for the others to assume their stances. A quick signal to Alpha-5 and the putties began to move with the Rangers responding in time. After a full week of training together, the six girls moved like a single entity. They could feel intentions and strategies through the bond they shared as Rangers, and were able to react accordingly to even the slightest shift. They were faster, stronger, able to dispatch more putties for longer than before, but as Zordon watched them from his limited vantage point he couldn’t help but fear that it wouldn’t be enough. Not if they couldn’t morph yet. His revelation to Juliana the day before had struck a nerve even within himself. Zordon’s time as a Ranger had passed, he had no right to force these children to fight in the war that he started billions of years ago, and he also couldn’t force them to give up the newfound power they had. If he stepped through the Morphing Grid, he couldn’t be the Red Ranger no matter how much he wanted to be. He could fight Rita, but only as her former friend, former teammate, former...but not as a Power Ranger and certainly not alone. 

Zordon’s ruminations did nothing to quell his fear that the current team of Power Rangers wouldn’t be able to stop Rita. 

Later, much later, judging by the sweat that dripped from the Rangers and their aching bodies, Alpha called the simulation to a halt. As one, the six Rangers relaxed their stances and moved over to their respective bottles of water. After they took several long gulps, chatter began to rise up as they unwrapped their hands and looked one another over for injuries. 

“That didn’t feel like it took so long,” Daisy commented after checking the time, prompting the others to do the same. 

“Wow we’ve been at this for hours,” Juliana looked from her watch back to Valentina, gently turning her head to see the fading bruise along Val’s jawline from an earlier lucky swipe from one of the putties. 

“I feel it,” Kimberly stretched her arms over her head and rolled her neck to try and shake out the aches that wanted to settle into her muscles. She knew they wouldn’t last long anyway, but years of gymnastics had her stretching out of habit. 

“I should head home, my mom wanted me home for dinner,” Trini stuffed her tape into her bag along with her water bottle. “See you guys tomorrow,” 

“Later, T,” Daisy called from where she was letting Jemma fuss over a cut on her upper arm. Trini shot her a smile and waved at the others, her gaze lingering on Kim for a long moment before she teleported out. 

“I guess I should head home, too,” Valentina wrapped her arm around Juliana’s waist, reaching for her bag with her other hand. Juliana tilted her head to kiss the fading bruise along Valentina’s jaw and then again to connect their lips. “Call me later?” 

Juliana hummed in response and stole another kiss, longer and probably deeper than the other three girls wanted to see, before releasing Valentina and moving a few steps away so she could teleport out after saying goodbye to the other girls. 

“Do I get a kiss goodbye?” Daisy teased Juliana, smiling cheekily. Kimberly rolled her eyes as Jemma stepped up and pulled Daisy into her, connecting their lips. 

“Apparently,” Juliana chuckled at the half surprised, half dazed expression on Daisy’s face when she parted from Jemma. “Just not from me,” 

“No complaints here,” Daisy said before pulling Jemma to her again. “See you tomorrow,” 

“See you,” Jemma waved at Kimberly as she and Daisy teleported out of the Pit and then it was only Jemma and Juliana standing there. Jemma gathered her things slowly, not overly eager to head home to her empty house. She was glad her parents were away, and therefore safe from the coming attack, but she didn’t like being alone in their house. 

“Hey Jem,” Juliana called a few minutes later, “do you want to come over for dinner? I know your parents are out of town.” 

“Oh, I’d hate to impose.” Jemma said softly. 

“You wouldn’t be imposing,” Juliana chuckled, “you’re invited. Besides, the twins won’t believe me when I say I’m studying with friends if they don’t meet one of them at some point.” 

“Not to be rude but I thought you’d want Val to meet your family first,” 

“I do, I’m just not ready for that yet. This thing with me and Val is still new and my mom’s fairly...traditional. I just want this whole thing with Rita to be over before I introduce my mother to my girlfriend. My best friend though…” Juliana trailed off as Jemma turned to her with her eyes widened in surprise. 

“Well, what kind of best friend would I be if I turned down that invitation. Let’s go.” Jemma smiled back at Juliana and refrained from offering any other commentary even if she was surprised to be granted best friend status. Surprised and honored, really, that Juliana thought of her that way, and determined to be the best best friend ever. They teleported to the ravine and Jemma followed Juliana down the trails that were becoming so familiar to them and then down the street, towards Juliana’s home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I totally meant to post this yesterday but time just got away from me. Sorry about the delay! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see y'all next week!


	9. Our Choice Now

Juliana led Jemma into the house through the garage door. Jemma follows Juliana’s example and pauses to take off her shoes in the laundry room before they proceed into the kitchen. As they step through the door, a two-part chorus of ‘Juli!’ sounds. 

“There you are mija,” A woman standing near the stove asks, waving a wooden spoon at Juliana. “You’re almost thirty minutes late.” 

“Sorry, Ma,” Juliana apologized quickly, ducking under the wooden spoon to place a kiss against her mom’s cheek. “We got a late start so we had to stay late. This is Jemma,” 

“Hello,” Jemma waved slightly when Juliana gestured at her. 

“Your ‘friend’ Jemma?” Lupita questioned, her eyes narrowing slightly. Jemma could see her resemblance to Juliana in the way Lupita’s head tilted while she waited for an answer. 

“Yes, my friend Jemma,” Juliana rolled her eyes and then swiftly dodged the swat Lupita playfully attempted to make at her. “Her parents are out of town so I thought she could join us for dinner.” 

“Si, claro, Jemma make yourself at home,” Lupita gestured to the table on the other side of the room, through a wide doorway, where two small figures were sitting together obviously supposed to be doing homework but seeming far more interested in doodling on their papers. Juliana made her way over to the table where the enthusiastic cheer that had sounded when she and Jemma first walked in was repeated. 

“Watcha working on?” Juliana asked as she pulled out the chair between her siblings. Jemma sat down across from them and tried to look like she wasn’t really excited to meet the twins. 

“We gotta spell the words right,” The girl answered with a glance up at her older sister. She shoved her paper in Juliana’s direction before turning her attention to Jemma. She studied Jemma for a moment, her eyes the same deep brown as Juliana’s and just as bright. Her nose wrinkled slightly as she spoke. “You don’t have blue eyes.” 

“No, I don’t,” Jemma said in a tone of surprise. 

“That’s a different friend, Dani.” Juliana pushed the homework back across the table to her sister and then pulled the boy’s, Alex Jemma guessed, to her to check his answers as well. “Valentina has blue eyes. This is Jemma,” 

“Hi Jemma,” Alex greeted cheerfully. “Do you like superheroes?” 

“I suppose so,” Jemma said slowly, wondering if her friends counted. Zordon and Alpha said they were an intergalactic team of superheroes after all, and Jemma definitely liked all the other Rangers, more than liked even. A glance at Juliana told Jemma that she was thinking something along the same lines. “Do you like superheroes?” 

“Yeah! They’re the best. Wait, I’ll show you my favorite one,” Alex leapt up from the table suddenly and dashed out of the room, ignoring Lupita’s call to not run in the house. 

“You’re in for it now, Jem. Once he gets started on superheroes, he won’t stop,” Juliana chuckled slightly. Dani was still looking at Jemma closely. 

“You talk funny,” Dani said suddenly. 

“Dani,” Juliana scolded gently but with a firm voice. For a moment, Jemma was reminded of the quiet authority that Juliana embodied when they trained. Her voice was soft but the authority there left no room for argument. “We don’t say things like that. Apologize.” 

“Sorry,” Dani mumbled, though she didn’t sound all that apologetic. 

“It’s quite alright,” Jemma offered the little girl a smile. “Do you like superheroes?” Dani seemed to not be expecting Jemma to ask that question, but her eyes lit up as she nodded her head. 

“Alex likes Batman but I think Wonder Woman is the best. She can ride a horse!” Dani began excitedly ranting about the joys of Wonder Woman and why she was a better hero than the other members of the Justice League, especially when Alex came back in with a Batman action figure to show Jemma. Without prompting, Alex climbed into Jemma’s lap to show her all the little pieces that his toy came with, including the cape, belt, and all manner of bat-themed weapons. A surprisingly enthusiastic, still childish in nature but impressive nonetheless, debate began then about various superheroes. Juliana joined in with a surprising amount of knowledge about the DC Comic heroes. 

“Go wash your hands, you can talk about this more after dinner,” Lupita interrupted the conversation just when Alex was beginning to argue that Supergirl was better than Superman. Alex grumbled but hopped off of Jemma’s lap to follow his twin to the bathroom and wash his hands. “Sorry about that Jemma, they can be hard to rein in once they get going,” 

“Oh, that’s alright. I quite enjoyed it,” Jemma glanced over at her best friend as Juliana rose from the table to gather plates for dinner. “I had no idea you knew so much about superheroes.” 

“Please don’t tell Daisy,” Juliana pleaded as she put a stack of plates on the table. “She already has enough things to tease me about.” 

“She’ll probably find out anyway,” Jemma pointed out. 

“But not for a little while, and until then I can have sweet, sweet peace.” Juliana laughed slightly. “At least wait until I have something equally embarrassing to tease her about.” 

“I’ll try but no promises,” Jemma helped spread the plates out around the table. “And don’t ask me to tell you her embarrassing secrets either,” 

“Fine, I’ll play by the rules. For now.” Juliana spread out the forks as Alex and Dani came back into the room. Alex sat in the seat beside Jemma and immediately started chattering again. Dani looked a little sullen as she sat down beside Juliana until Alex called for his twins' opinion on something that he was sure Jemma was wrong about. Dani took Jemma’s side, in a move that Jemma expected was purely meant to annoy her brother and Alex’s vehement argument made Juliana laugh. 

The rest of dinner passed in the same way, with the twins supplying most of the conversation and Juliana occasionally butting in with her own opinion. For the most part, Jemma sat back and listened, partially because the food had more spice than Jemma was accustomed too and she had to have several sips of water to stop the burning of her tongue, but mostly because she was just enjoying the chaos of a nice family dinner. It reminded her of when she was little, back in England, when Fitz would come over for dinner and they would have very similar debates. She made a mental note to call her childhood friend and catch up after all this Rita business was settled. 

Lupita listened to the conversation as well and watched the way her children interacted with Jemma. She was a little surprised that Juliana had invited a friend over for dinner since she had never mentioned Jemma before until last Saturday when they had some science project to work on. She was more surprised that this friend wasn’t the Valentina that Lupe had heard her daughter speaking with on the phone so often since that Saturday. She knew there was a group of them, Juliana had said that they were all working on a school project together but there was something just a little off about it all. Something that rubbed against Lupe’s maternal instincts. The weight that Juliana had started to carry on her shoulders, the tiredness and worry in her eyes (also the fact that she broke the bathroom sink somehow-Lupe still had no idea how that happened). 

But, Jemma seemed like a nice girl as did the others that Juliana had talked about. This Daisy person seemed to be a prankster but there was nothing wrong with that as long as no one got hurt. Lupita didn’t know much about the others yet, but she knew there was something about Valentina that stood out in the way Juliana’s eyes shined when she said her name. There was certainly something going on with this group of girls, something that had less to do with school work and more to do with Juliana having a genuine group of friends for the first time in her life. That was enough to make Lupe push away her maternal concerns, at least for now. 

Jemma left an hour after dinner after turning down Juliana’s offer to drive her home. Juliana knew that Jemma was just going to go around the block and then teleport to her own home so she didn’t protest too much. Alex and Danie both gave Jemma hugs before she left, Alex hanging on for longer than Dani. Juliana walked her to the door and then returned to the kitchen to help her mother clean up after dinner. 

“She seems nice,” Lupita says after a stretch of silence. Juliana nodded without looking up from the plate she was washing. 

“She is. She’s a good friend,” Juliana half turns to look at her mom. “They’re all good friends, Ma. I promise.” 

“I trust you mija,” Lupita kissed her eldest daughter’s hair, “and I want to meet the rest of your friends. Especially this Valentina you’ve been talking to so much.” 

Juliana clears her throat slightly, ignoring the heat on her cheeks, “I’m sure you will eventually. They seem to be sticking around for a while.” 

Juliana’s smile is soft as she rinses the last plate and puts it on the rack to dry. She shoots a smile at her mother, pokes playfully at the twins as she walks past, and pulls her phone to her ear as she heads up the stairs to her room. Lupita watches her go with a fond smile, happy that her daughter had finally seemed to break out of her shell. 

~

Kimberly was poised in a squatting position on the roof, halfway reaching out towards the window when Valentina spotted her. Raising one eyebrow curiously, Valentina crossed her bedroom and pulled open the window with one hand, the other still holding her phone to her ear. 

“Yeah, Juls, I’m gonna have to call you back,” Valentina said as Kimberly eased into her bedroom. “Kim just tried to sneak into my room and failed. Yeah, of course. Good night.” 

“Sorry,” Kim said as she moved away from the open window towards Valentina’s bed. 

“It’s alright,” Valentina waved off the apology. “What’s got you so worked up this late at night?” 

“I think I’m the reason we can’t morph,” Kimberly admitted in a rushed voice, releasing a breath like she had been holding it in for a long time. Valentina waited for a moment, thinking that Kim would continue the line of thought. “We were so close to morphing today, after the bonfire last night and everyone sharing their secrets. Except not everyone did that.” 

“Kim, none of us expected you to share some big dark secret. You can’t blame yourself for all of our problems,” Valentina pulled one leg beneath her as she sat down next to Kimberly. “We can’t morph because we can’t morph. It’s not your fault.” 

“But you can morph. You did morph,” Kimberly points out. “Trini and I both partially morphed too, so why can’t we all do it together?” 

“You and Trini morphed? When was this?” Valentina held in a laugh as Kimberly’s eyes grew wide like maybe she hadn’t meant to say that. 

“In a coffee shop the other day, we were play fighting over a piece of cake.” 

“Krispy Kreme?” Valentina asked, suddenly seeming much more interested. 

“No, that little cafe downtown. Anyway, that wasn’t my point,” Kimberly stood up from Valentina’s bed and began to pace around the room. “My point is that I think if I hadn’t held back at the bonfire, we’d be Power Rangers by now.” 

“We are Power Rangers,” Valentina says. “I don’t care what Zordon says about. The Coins chose us, we chose to train. We are Power Rangers.” 

“What if the coins chose wrong?” Kimberly shrugged her shoulders. “What if they chose the wrong Pink Ranger?” 

“I don’t think they did. The Coins have been around for centuries. They know what they’re doing.” Valentina sounded much more sure than Kimberly felt. 

“Then why choose me? I’m mean and a bully and don’t even try to deny it. You saw that picture of Amanda,” Kimberly sighed, her shoulders dropping. “I’m not worthy of being a Power Ranger.” 

“Kim, you did a bad thing. It doesn’t make you a bad person,” Valentina said. “You’re right, you can be mean and a bully but you aren’t a mean person by nature. Everyone gets angry. People react badly when they are angry. It’s normal. Human.” 

“Val, I had to watch Amanda’s father look at the picture. I could have destroyed her life, made her an outcast in her own family and for what? Because she slept with my boyfriend who I didn’t have any real feelings for? There’s no coming back from that.” 

“Yes, there is,” Valentina stood up and placed her hands on Kimberly’s shoulders when she passed by, stopping her in her tracks. “You made a mistake. You regret it but you can’t erase it. Learn from it. You think you’re such a bad person? Then try to be a better one.” 

“It’s not that simple, or easy,” Kimberly deflated a little under Valentina's gaze. Val shook her head. 

“I never said it would be. But you’re not alone. You’ve got me and the other girls,” Valentina wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, “Trini.” 

“Shut up,” Kimberly half resisted as Valentina pulled her into a hug, her cheeks almost matching the color of her power coin. “It is kind of funny how we’ve all paired up.” 

“Juls and I were talking about that too,” Valentina laughed as she pulled away. “Me and her, Daisy and Jemma, you and Trini. But we’re all still a group, too.” 

“Yeah, I just don’t want to make out with you,” Kimberly playfully pushed Valentina down onto the bed. 

“I don’t want to have coffee dates and play fight with you,” Valentina replied, catching Kimberly’s hand and pulling her down onto the bed with her. “So I guess we’re even.” 

Kimberly chuckled. “So tell me about you and Juls? How exactly did that happen?” 

“We were stargazing after you and the others left and talking about how we paired off. Decided that we didn’t want this thing between us to be unspoken anymore. We’re going on a date after this whole deal with Rita settles down,” Valentina smiled slightly. Kimberly watched her dazed expression for a moment before smirking. 

“She a good kisser?” 

“God, the best,” Valentina melted into the bed as Kimberly laughed at her. “What about Trini?” 

“What about her?” Kimberly laid back against Valentina’s pillows. Valentina rolled onto her stomach and looked at Kim. 

“She a good kisser?” 

“I wouldn’t know,” Kimberly looked at the ceiling rather than at Valentina. “I haven’t kissed her yet.” 

“But you want too,” it wasn’t a question but Kimberly nodded anyway. 

“Yeah, I do. But I know it’s hard for her, with her mom and everything. I thought I should wait until she’s more comfortable with herself. We can’t all figure it out so early.” Kimberly glanced over at Valentina and then back to the ceiling, thinking back to a conversation they had had years ago. Long before either of them had been the Queen Bee’s of the school, before Kimberly started being so mean to everyone and before they drifted apart, they had laid in almost this exact position and Kimberly quietly admitted that sometimes she thought about girls the way her mom said she was supposed to think about boys. Kimberly hadn’t known the words back then, but she didn’t have too. Valentina had accepted her with a quiet ‘me too’ and that was it. 

“And you say you aren’t a good person,” Valentina poked Kimberly’s arm. 

“Shut up,” Kimberly swatted her hand away. They were silent for a moment before Kimberly spoke up again. “Can I stay here tonight?” 

“As long as you don’t kick me out of the bed.” 

“That was one time when we were twelve. Will you ever let that go?” Kimberly rolled her eyes. 

“Nope,” Valentina smiled cheekily and then got up so they could pull the covers back on the bed. Kimberly was just in the process of taking off her shoes when they both felt it. A chill had swept over them, the hair on the backs of their necks standing off as a warning signal went through the power coins in their pockets. Someone was in trouble. 

A tense moment passed where Valentina hurried to put on her shoes and Kimberly pulled her phone out of her pocket. Her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw that the SOS message come in from Trini. 

“Let’s go,” Valentina said after reading the same message. Kimberly nodded and followed Valentina out the window. 

~

Trini woke up to her skin feeling damp. A wetness clung to her limbs and made her bedsheets stick to her arms, a constant, consistent plop of water hitting her forehead. At first, Trini wasn’t sure if she was imagining the water or not, perhaps the feeling had been leftover from whatever dream she had been having. Then Trini opened her eyes. 

A gasp ripped from her throat but any other sound was silenced when a hand wrapped around Trini’s throat. Cold, metal claws scratched at her neck as the woman hovering along Trini’s ceiling dropped down to hover low over Trini’s bed. Her body was covered in green armor, a shimmer of gold danced beneath her skin. 

“Hello Yellow,” the woman said in a low voice, applying more pressure to Trini’s neck. 

“Rita,” Trini gasped out, trying to force Rita to release her. Rita let out a humorless laugh. 

“Oh, I was so hoping you would recognize me. Takes all the fun out of torture if you don’t know who I am,” Rita trailed her fingers along Trini’s neck as she kept her pinned down with her free hand. Her claws traced a path down from Trini’s ear to her collarbone once, and then again with added pressure. Trini felt her skin rip open and the sudden warmth on her neck. 

Trini’s instincts kicked in then and used her knees and hands to force Rita off of her body. The move worked, but Rita still had a tight grip on Trini’s neck and dragged her out of the bed. They hit the ceiling roughly and Trini fell back down. She flipped over the bed quickly and tried to take up a fighting stance but Rita was faster. Trini was thrown back into the wall and it cracked upon impact. Then Rita was on her again, holding her with one hand while the other aimed a deadly green scepter at her heart. 

“I could kill you,” Rita said lowly, conversationally. “I killed the last Yellow Ranger, but she didn’t have as much spunk as you Little Yellow.” 

“What do you want?” Trini struggled to get the words out, her lungs fighting for air. 

“I want my crystal,” Rita’s eyes hardened. “I will find it, and you are going to tell me where it is.” 

“I don’t know,” Trini gritted her teeth against the pain as Rita pressed harder on the fresh cuts along her neck. 

“Sadly, I believe you,” Rita didn’t let up the pressure as she leaned in close, “as much as I’d enjoy making you suffer even more,” Rita pressed her lips and then her tongue against Trini’s chin. Trini tried to jerk away from the contact which only seemed to make Rita enjoy it more. “I’ll give you one chance. Meet me where the dead ships live before dawn. If you tell me where the Crystal is then, I may let you live.” 

Rita let go of Trini, dropping her to the floor and then the deranged green ranger left through the open window. Trini drew in deep, gasping breaths and reached for a nearby shirt to hold to her bleeding neck. The adrenaline was fading from her quickly as the reality of what had just happened sunk in. 

Rita was here, in her house. Rita could have easily killed her, or her family. This was real. 

It was all real. 

Trini had the oddest urge to laugh. It was almost strange. She had known that aliens existed and that she had superpowers for going on two weeks now, but she didn’t actually believe it. Not until just then. Not until Rita was literally staring her in the face. She had to tell the others. 

Still feeling a little woozy, Trini stood up and stumbled to her bed. Her Ranger sense was buzzing like crazy, she had a feeling that the others already knew that something had happened even if they couldn’t tell just what. Trini sent out a mass text with the words ‘SOS, meet at park’ and then put her phone back down. She needed to change, clean the blood of her neck and then get to the other Rangers. 

Trini changed quickly, careful not to pull at the cuts on her neck too much. They were fairly deep but healing quickly enough. Trini had a feeling that these would leave a mark on her skin, unlike the cut on her forehead that she’d gotten during training. Even as the three cuts across her skin scabbed over before her eyes when she looked at the mirror, Trini knew they would never completely go away. Now dressed with her phone and power coin, Trini climbed out her bedroom window and jumped down to the pavement below. 

Trini wanted to run, to sprint to the park and let the others know that Rita was there and alive and real. She wanted to show them the cuts on her neck that she could feel scabbing over and scaring her skin. She wanted them all to know, but not yet. They didn’t have to know right away, even if their Rangers sense had alerted them that something was wrong. Trini didn’t know how, but she knew that the five other Rangers had all been alerted to Trini’s trouble somehow. They didn’t know the specifics, Trini doubted they knew exactly who was in danger and from what yet. They weren’t close enough for that. They weren’t even real Rangers. They were a bunch of kids thrown into some else’s war. 

“Trini!” It’s Kim’s voice that reaches her first and Trini almost pauses in her walk and turns around but then Kim is standing right in front of her with one hand on Trini’s shoulder and the other gently cradling her chin as she directs Trini to turn her head. Trini can’t help but compare the softness of Kimberly’s fingertips to the cold metal claws that had been touching her half an hour before. “What happened?” 

“Rita,” Trini swallows against the lump in her throat. “She came to my house. She could have killed me.” 

There’s silence as Trini lets Kim pull her into a hard hug and Trini can’t help but give in to the urge to tuck her face against Kim’s neck and try to breathe normally. The part of her brain that has recognized what’s happened, that knows about the danger she was just in and knows that no matter what happens next she’s going to put herself in that danger again to protect her family and her town wants to push Kim away and throw up all those walls that Trini has spent so long building. The other part of her brain, the emotional side that Trini always tries to hide just wants to curl up against Kim’s chest and pretend that the world isn’t about to end. 

“It’s crazy but, I kinda didn’t believe all this was real before,” Daisy has her hands in her pocket and she’s standing close to Jemma like she wants to reach out for her. Trini wonders if they’ve talked about their kiss yet if they’ve defined what they are to each other. She glances up at Kim and wishes that there was time for that conversation now. There isn’t. 

“Trust me, it’s real,” Trini pulls out of Kimberly’s arms and crosses her own over her chest. Kimberly lets her go without protest but her eyes say she wished Trini would have stayed there. “What do we do now?” 

“What did Rita want?” Juliana asks. She’s standing partially in front of Valentina like she’s waiting for an attacker to come pouncing out of the shadows. 

“The crystal. She said if I gave it up, she’d spare my life. We have until dawn to give it up and then the destruction of Angel Grove begins.” 

“We’re not doing that, right?” Daisy looks at all of them. “There’s no way we’re giving up the crystal.” 

“No, we have to stop her,” Jemma nods her head like she’d never considered any other option. “We have to.” 

“But we can’t. We’re not Power Rangers,” Kimberly speaks up, her eyes are filled with fear when Trini looks at her. Trini sees Kim’s eyes trace over her neck. “We’re not strong enough.” 

“Not on our own,” Juliana nods in Trini’s direction. “Maybe not together either, but we have to try.” 

“Zordon-” 

“I don’t give a fuck what Zordon says, Jemma,” Juliana shakes her head in silent apology. “Do you know why Zordon wants us to Morph? It’s so he can come back to life.” 

“Zordon doesn’t think we can do this,” Kimberly says and for the first time, Trini can see that defiant flame in her eyes. For a second she thinks she’s looking at the same rebellious Kimberly that punched a boy's tooth out, but Trini knows she’s different now. This Kimberly is one who would go to bat for any of her friends, who was going to do the right thing and prove wrong everyone who said she couldn’t. Something like pride bursts in Trini’s chest. 

“Fuck Zordon,” Trini says. “This isn’t his town or his time. This is our time.” 

“This is our choice,” Juliana says. “I won’t force any of you to come along but I’m going to stop Rita,”  _ or die trying  _ goes unsaid but not unthought. 

“We’re going to stop Rita,” Valentina steps up so she and Juliana are standing side by side and takes Juliana’s hand. “We started this together, we’ll finish it the same way.” 

“Damn right we will,” Daisy agrees as she and Jemma step up beside Valentina. Kimberly and Trini move forward and round out the circle. 

Trini looks at them all for a moment after she tells them where Rita is waiting for them, sees the determination and fear in their eyes. Sees the way they all cling to each other and plan and make silent promises that no one goes into this alone. It’s enough to make Trini think that maybe they’ll actually survive this. It’s enough to make Trini resolve to fight as hard as she can because Kimberly is holding her hand, Juliana is pulling Valentina to her for a short kiss when they think the others aren’t looking, and she can hear Daisy promising Jemma that they’ll go on that date when this is all over. 

They have each other, finally, truly they have each other. 

Trini will be damned if she loses a single one of them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get real, I mean really real, nxt chapter! 
> 
> See y'all then! 
> 
> (Also these next few chapters are like really short bc every time I tried to add to them, it felt like too much. Hope that doesn't bother y'all)


	10. Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please remember that this fic is tagged Temporary Character Death. If you don't want to read the scene, stop reading when Rita says "You won't have a choice..."

For someone marching off to what could quite possibly be her death, Jemma feels oddly invigorated. There’s fear there too, of course, but Jemma finds that the fear is almost easy to push aside. It’s easy to act the fear in her mind pales in comparison to the strength she can feel ringing in her Ranger sense, but only when Jemma pretends that it’s only her own fear. Only when she acts like she doesn’t feel the fear of the other five Rangers seeping into this odd connection that they share. Otherwise the fear she feels might overwhelm Jemma enough to convince her to turn around. But Jemma isn’t alone in her fear or in her strength. She has the other Rangers with her, her friends. 

They’re walking towards the docks in a formation that looks planned despite it just being how they fell into step together. Juliana leads with a long metal pipe in her hands that she had picked up a few blocks back, her jaw set and eyes determined. Valentina and Daisy walked on either side of her, Valentina with long, skinny pipe that reminded Jemma of a bo staff and Daisy with a heavy chain in her hands. Trini walked behind Valentina’s shoulder with a pair of makeshift brass knuckles on her hands that Jemma had no idea where she’d gotten from. Jemma herself is behind Daisy armed with two broken crowbars and Kimberly walks at the back of their diamond like formation with another chain, longer and skinnier than the one Daisy carries but no less dangerous. 

Really, Jemma almost wants to laugh. She’s sure they must look like quite the sight and any one that happened to be peering out a window would think they were all involved in a gang of some sort. A bunch of no good hooligans off to save the city and the world from an evil alien hellbent of obtaining the source of all life on earth. It’s not a funny situation but Jemma has to fight the laughter that bubbles up her throat anyway. 

“I know this is supposed to be all badass or whatever,” Daisy speaks up suddenly. “But can we admit that we all probably look ridiculous right now?” 

“I really hope no one looks out the window any time soon,” Kimberly agrees with a slight laugh. 

Jemma doesn’t mean to, really she doesn’t, but suddenly she’s almost doubled over with laughter. She’s stopped walking and bends over, resting her hands on her knees as the laughter she was trying to keep down bursts from her lips. It’s completely ridiculous and she knows that the others know that too. That doesn’t stop them all from cracking up as well and soon there’s six laughing, out of breath teenagers standing in the middle of the street holding various metal objects with the intent of using them as deadly weapons. The thought makes Jemma laugh. 

“This really isn’t that funny,” Jemma says as she straightens up, still chuckling. 

“No, but we might as well laugh,” Daisy shrugs her shoulders and shoots Jemma a smile over her shoulder. 

“Better than crying which is the other thing I want to do,” Valentina pipes up jokingly and they all chuckle again. 

“It’s time,” Juliana says and it’s then that Jemma notices just how close to the docks they are. She can hear the water moving against the ships there, smell the saltiness of the air. 

Juliana’s words sober them all, their laughter dies as quickly as it had come to life and back are the clenched jaws and hard eyes. As one, the six Rangers stand up straighter, square their shoulders and begin to move again. The time for laughter and jokes has passed. 

Jemma tightens her grip on the crowbars in her hands and thinks back to their practice fights in the Pit. Countless modles of putties that came in never ending waves, but never had they fought an image of Rita. They were as prepared for this as they could be, but without their armor Jemma wasn’t sure it would be enough. 

Too late to back out now. 

There’s only one fire lit at the docks when the Rangers round the last corner and see the first ship. They follow the glow to a ship halfway down the dock and pause as the approach. A single figure sits on a chair, slightly slumped forward. Juliana gestures for them to proceed slowly and Jemma immediately has a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something isn’t right here. 

They move around the figure slowly and discover that it is a man that has been tied to the chair. His eyes are wide open, vacant. Jeema feels like vomiting. She’s so distracted by the man in the chair, she doesn’t see Trini looking up until it’s too late. 

“Oh, shi-” Trini’s curse is cut off as a woman encased in green, metallic armor descends on the group. A burst of power sends them all stumbling back. 

“It’s about time you showed up,” Rita mocks, “I was beginning to think you were too dumb to know where the dead ships live.” 

They launch into an attack but Rita looks almost bored as she sends them away with a wave of her staff. Valentina gets in a lucky hit with the pole she holds and Rita pauses to look at her. 

“Looks like you have some fight in you, Blue,” Rita’s eyes glow a vibrant green. They have a hypnotizing effect and Valentina’s motion to strike Rita again falters. Rita catches the pole with one hand. “And you know where my crystal is.” 

“We’ll never tell you,” Juliana’s words distract Rita but only for a moment. She backhands Valentina and sends her flying away from the rest of the group towards the moored boat. A rope snakes out and wraps around Valentina, hoisting her into the hair and securing her against the ship. 

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Red,” and Rita smiles viciously. It’s then that Jemma realizes Rita has simply been toying with them this whole time. Knocking them back, dancing out of the way, smirking and laughing at their attempts to land a hit against her. Their attacks are nothing compared to the grace with which Rita strikes out with her scepter. Another burst of power, stronger than the last, pushes Jemma off her feet and she flies back. Her mind barely registers the tightening of a rope around her body before her world goes dark. 

~

Daisy sputters and coughs as she comes to, struggling against the ropes that bind her to the bow of the ship. Their all dangling above the water now, Jemma to her left and Kimberly to her right. She can sense Trini, Juliana, and Valentina further down, where the crack between the ship and the dock is just wide enough for a body to slip through. Daisy fights harder against the rope and then grunts in pain when they tighten around her. 

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Rita is walking along the dock, her fingers moving in the air like she’s trying to decide which one of them to speak with first. She pauses in front of Daisy. “I can smell your fear, Black. How much you don’t want to be alone again.” 

Rita reaches out and runs the tip of one golden claw along Daisy’s cheek. Daisy closes her eyes and braces herself for a stinging pain but it never comes. When her eyes open again, Rita is standing in front of Kimberly. 

“There’s a fire in you, Pink. Much more than the last Pink Ranger had,” Rita glances sideways at Trini and smiles at her. Daisy can feel Trini’s fear through their Ranger connection, and the way sees the way Kimberly struggles harder against her restraints. Rita sees it, too. “Such love for someone you barely know. All of you, you reek of,” Rita sneers, “attachment. Weakness.” 

Rita continues down the line of trapped Rangers, skipping over Trini and stopping at Juliana. 

“Especially you, Red. So much strength, so much love. You’re willing to do anything to save them. To save her,” Rita points her staff at Valentina and a green vapor covers her. The veins in her face and neck stand out as the muscles contract. She can’t breathe. Juliana fights against her restraints, begging Rita to stop. “Oh and why should I? You’re not going to tell me where my crystal is, are you?” 

“I don’t know where it is!” Juliana yells. “I swear, I don’t.” 

“Of course not,” Rita’s spell ends and Valentina draws in a deep, gasping breath. “Because she does.” 

Rita’s piercing green gaze lands on Valentina again and this time she decides to forgo the staff. Her eyes bore into Valentina as Rita steps up between Juliana and Trini, and grabs them both by the throat. Juliana tries to fight but her movement is too limited. Trini seems almost frozen in fear, her body shaking as she tries to draw in the air Rita is keeping her from. 

“NO!” Valentina yells, coughing harshly. “Don’t hurt them. I know where the crystal is, I can tell you,” 

“Finally, we’re getting somewhere,” Rita cries joyously, She lets go of Trini but keeps Juliana’s throat firmly in her grasp. “Tell me where my crystal is.” 

Rita’s voice is as cold as ice but Valentina stares back unblinkingly. “Let her go.” 

Rita laughs again as she regards Valentina. Valentina stares back without blinking, waiting for Rita’s response. 

“Fine, Blue,” Rita shoves Juliana’s head back nearly hard enough to knock her out again and then let’s go of her throat. “We’ll play by your rules. Now, where is my crystal?” 

“It’s downtown. At Krispy Kreme,” Valentina doesn’t take her eyes off of Rita even as the other Rangers look at her incredulously. 

“You’re joking, right?” Daisy calls out because really? The most powerful source of energy in the universe is buried beneath a chain donut shop? 

And people say the universe doesn’t have a sense of humor. 

“No, it’s there,” Valentina is still focused on Rita. “I’m sure of it.” 

“And this is a special place? This Krispy Kreme?” Rita steps into Valentina’s personal space and for the first time Valentina shrinks back from her. 

“Happiest place on Earth,” Juliana quips after a cough. “Other than Disneyland.” 

Daisy almost laughs. 

“Yes it must be, the source of all life is hidden there,” Rita claps her hands together in glee and summons her staff back into her hands. “You may be of use to me yet, Rangers.” 

“You won’t get away with this Rita,” Juliana says, her voice like hot iron. Even Daisy wants to shrink away from the raw strength Juliana emits. She’s never heard her voice like that before. “We won’t let you.” 

“You won’t have a choice. You’re not Power Rangers,” Rita leans into Juliana’s space then, “otherwise you wouldn’t be here. How can you save the world when you can’t even save your own team?” 

  
  


Rita taps her staff against the dock and a burst of magic collides with Valentina. The rope holding her up releases, leaving the ones holding her body still wrapped tightly around her as she drops into the cold water below. 

“VALENTINA!” Daisy isn’t sure who all yells out her name, but Juliana’s voice is the loudest. Rita laughs. 

“Well, I had to kill one of you. Otherwise Zordon would think that I had gone soft,” Rita turns and begins to stalk off, ignoring the Rangers cries for their sixth member. “Thank you for the help Rangers. I’m sure I’ll see most of you again.” 

Another burst of power releases the other five Rangers and they land on the docks with a clash. Daisy can’t focus enough to move the ropes off of her quickly. Panic is filling her Ranger sense and spills into her mind, making her shaky and unable to think straight. She fights against the ropes until she can wiggle herself free and then takes a diving leap for the rope that’s quickly dropping into the ocean. The rope with her friend at the bottom already deep beneath the water. 

Daisy catches the rope just before the last edge slips over the edge of the dock and grunts as her body collides with the dock again but doesn’t let go. She can’t. She won’t. They won’t lose Valentina. Daisy refuses to acknowledge the presence already missing from the back of her mind. The Ranger Sense is filled with confusing, conflicting emotions ranging from fear to anger to hate, but none of them come from Valentina. That feeling that had always reminded Daisy of looking up at a clear blue sky on a sunny day and thinking that everything would be okay is gone. 

Daisy pushes herself to her feet and pulls on the rope with all her strength. Another pair of hands join her, Juliana leaning over the edge of the dock to grab some of the rope from further down. Daisy doesn’t think Juliana is aware of the fact that she’s crying, or that she hasn’t stopped repeating Valentina’s name. Disbelief swirls in the connection between all of them, and denial. There’s no way Valentina is gone. No way. 

The five of them work together to pull Valentina back to the surface and cut her free of the ropes. Daisy collapses back into Jemma’s embrace once Valentina is laid on the docks. She’s surprised for a moment, Daisy hadn’t even realized that Jemma was behind her, but Jemma wraps her arms around Daisy’s waist and helps her up. Together they move to where Juliana is leaning over Valentina. 

It feels too quiet, Daisy can’t hear anything over the pounding in her ears and the chorus of ‘NO!’ that Juliana is yelling. She has her hands on Valentina’s chest, pushing rhythmically and then pausing to breathe into Valentina’s mouth. 

Nothing changes. 

Trini has her hands in her hair, tears streaming down her face as she watches helplessly. Kimberly collapses to her knees and Daisy suddenly remembers that Valentina had been friends before all of this started. The motion seems to awaken something in Trini and she moves to Kimberly, wrapping her arms around Kim’s shoulders as she buries her face against Trini’s stomach. Daisy can feel Jemma’s hands on her waist gripping tightly but it’s like she can’t tear her eyes away from what she sees. 

“Please, Val, please come back to me,” Juliana is sobbing now. Her arms give out and she collapses against Valentina’s chest. “Please. I just found you, I can’t lose you now.” 

Nothing happens. 

Nothing changes. 

When Juliana sits up and looks back at the other four Rangers, her eyes confirm what they all already know. 

Their six man team is down to five. 

Valentina is gone. 

~

Valentina learned how to swim when she was five years old. Her mother taught her, right before the cancer growing within her body started to make itself known. It had only taken Valentina a week to get the basics down and by the second week of summer, her parents could barely get her out of the water. 

She loved swimming so much, she invited her neighbor over and taught her. Little Kimmy had jumped into the pool with the same unbridled enthusiasm as Valentina had, laughing joyously as the two best friends splashed around the pool. They liked to see who could hold their breath the longest, who could swim the fastest, who could jump higher off the diving board. Anything that they could do that would give their mothers a heart attack, they would try. 

When Valentina’s mom died, Valentina had jumped into the pool and sat at the bottom for as long as she could. When her lungs screamed for air, she’d float back up to the top and take a few moments to breath and calm her body down, drifting aimlessly across the water. Then, she’d take another deep breath and do it all over again. Kimmy must have noticed at some point because one time when Valentina resurfaced for air, she was sitting beside the pool waiting for her. 

“I heard about your mom,” Kimberly had said, “I’m sorry.” 

Valentina had nodded, like she did when anyone else said they were sorry. She didn’t understand their apologies. Valentina’s mom hadn’t died sad, no matter how much she was hurting. The last time Valentina had seen her mother, she’d been smiling. She’d told Valentina how much she loved her and that she would always love her, would always be proud of her. It wasn’t until Valentina was sitting at the bottom of the pool that she realised her mother had been saying goodbye. 

“I don’t think you should swim anymore today,” Kimberly had said a few minutes later, after Valentina had gone under and come up again. “My mom said you can stay with us if you want, your dad doesn’t mind.” 

Valentina doesn’t remember what she said in response. All she remembers is spending the next week at the Hart house with Kimberly, occasionally with Guille and Kyle too. All she remembers is wishing she had known that her mom was saying goodbye, so Valentina could have said goodbye too. 

When they were ten, Kimberly and Valentina found their hidden cliff diving spot. The first time they jumped, Valentina felt like she would never hit the water. She was simply there. 

Falling. 

Falling. 

Falling. 

Until she wasn’t, she was sinking and then she was rising and hearing Kim asking is if she was okay. Valentina had climbed back up to the cliff and jumped with Kim. They kept jumping over and over again until the sun was sinking low on the horizon and they were both too hungry to keep going. On their last jump, Valentina felt like she was flying, she didn’t want it to end. 

When she was 16, almost 17, Valentina found a gold and blue coin in the old mines around her hometime. She hadn’t meant to find it, hadn’t meant to take, but the second she touched the coin Valentina had felt like it belonged to her. That it was meant to be hers. 

But that paled in comparison to the people she met. 

Alpha-5, Zordon, the Zords, being Power Rangers, none of it mattered to Valentina as much as the five other girls who had been in the mines with her that night. Two of them, Valentina had never met, Trini and Daisy. Two of them she had met only that morning, Jemma and Juliana. One of them she had known her whole life, Kimberly. She wasn’t exactly friends with any of them. Those days, she and Kim had been acquaintances at best and the other four were all strangers. 

The six of them had ended up creating something more beautiful than anything Val had seen before. Jemma’s rambles, Daisy’s teasings, Trini’s hard-won grins, Kimberly’s playful snaps, Valentina’s caregiving nature and Juliana’s easy smile. They were all amazing on their own, but together they had formed something incredible. 

They weren’t just Power Rangers. 

They were so much more than that. 

And Valentina could see it in them, even if they couldn’t see it yet. Valentina could see it in the way they walked together, in the way they joked and played and fought together. In the way they gave each other love in their own way. In the way they loved fiercely in return. 

It was then, as Valentina felt Rita’s magic collide with her body, as she fell into the water below, that Valentina realised what they had been missing all along. 

It was love that had driven Valentina to become a Power Rangers. Love for her family and her town and her world. Love for her friends. Love for the people on the boat beside her who had all become so much more in the short time they’d really known each other. 

It was Valentina’s love for Juliana that had her giving up the location of the Zeo Crystal. 

It was Valentina’s love for her friends that let her mind be at peace as she fell into the water. 

Deeper. 

Deeper. 

Deeper. 

The last air in her lungs left her, water taking its place. Valentina didn’t fight against the restraints. She didn’t do anything, but surrender herself to the warmth that flooded her mind and body. 

Surrender to the love she had for her friends, and the love they had for her in return. 

Surrender to the deep, all consuming love she felt for Juliana but hadn’t ever voiced. 

Valentina surrenders and she feels the Morphing Grid opening for her. Warm and welcoming. And she falls. 

Deeper. 

Deeper. 

Deeper. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, I'm sorry? I did apologize in advance for this. 
> 
> See y'all in the next one!


	11. Let's Do This

They walk back to the mines. 

Juliana wants to carry Valentina on her own, to cradle her close against her chest and let the weight of her body in Juliana’s arms serve as a reminder of her own failure. Juliana failed. She’s the Red Ranger. She’s the leader. Juliana’s the one who’s supposed to make the sacrifice play. Juliana is the one who should stay behind so the others can get away. 

It should have been her. 

Daisy is the first to step up and help Juliana move Valentina. Out of all of them, Daisy seems to be in the most control. Her shoulders aren’t heaving with sobs despite the tears that roll down her cheeks, she isn’t frozen in shock like Jemma seems to be. She looks crushed, heartbroken, but she still steps up to Juliana. 

“Together,” is all she says as they move so Valentina is cradled between them. Her head rests against Juliana’s chest and her eyes are closed. It’s almost enough to make Juliana believe that Valentina is simply sleeping, except her skin is too cold and her chest doesn’t move in the steady rise and fall of a breathing pattern. Juliana closes her eyes and turns her head. It’s the only way she can stop looking at Valentina. 

Her girlfriend is gone. Juliana hadn’t even told Valentina that she loved her yet. She curses herself for hesitating that night after the bonfire. She should have said it then. She would have, if she had known she would never get another chance. 

Jemma steps up beside Daisy, and then Kimberly climbs to her feet and moves to stand beside Juliana. Trini joins them by Valentina’s feet. 

The sun is just cresting over the horizon when they reach the ravine. Juliana doesn’t even consider teleporting to the ship from there. She can’t think clearly enough to envision the Command Center. All she can see when she closes her eyes is the blue of Valentina’s eyes, the curve of her lips when she smiles. All the things she’ll never get to see again. 

They stand Valentina up and Kimberly stands behind her to help Juliana keep her up right. The fall into the water below feels like an eternity and Juliana wonders if that’s how it had felt for Valentina. Like she would never stop falling. When they reach the entrance, Juliana breaks away first and drops down into the cave. She catches Valentina carefully in her arms, making sure to keep Valentina’s head from hitting the wall or ground of the cave. The others drop down after her and nobody comments on the fact that they all landed on their feet for the first time. 

Juliana carries Valentina into the ship alone. She feels like she has too. Everything that they had done since they found the coins, Juliana and Valentina had done it together. Hand in hand. They’d do this together, too. 

(Juliana doesn’t fight the voice in her mind that says  _ it should have been me  _ over and over again) 

The huge metal doors open for her as Juliana approaches with Valentina in her arms and she continues through them. She can hear the other girls behind her, the shuffling of their feet and the way one of them will occasionally sniffle like they’re trying hold back tears. Juliana doesn’t bother to hide her own crying, the tears roll down her face silently and Juliana clenches her jaw at the emptiness she feels. 

(It should have been her) 

( _ It should have been  _ **_her_ ** ) 

“Valentina? Oh no,” Alpha-5 seems to dim at the sight of them, the metal of his body and the glow of his eyes losing some of the brightness. Zordon’s head emerges from the wall, his pixelated expression torn between sorrow and an inexplicable, almost smugness. Zordon isn’t surprised that they tried to face Rita on their own, nor is he surprised that they failed. He doesn’t show any true remorse for what the Rangers have lost, for what Juliana has lost. The anger that rises in Juliana feels like it’s going to burn her skin off with the intense heat of it. It takes all of her restraint to wait until after she’s gently set Valentina down near the top of the stairs before Juliana storms over to the wall, her eyes alight with fury and sadness in equal measure. 

“You knew this would happen,” Juliana glares at Zordon, “you knew we could never beat her.” 

“I had hoped that you would,” Zordon doesn’t look at Valentina’s body or Juliana, and that infuriates Juliana even more. 

“Hoped that we would what? Become you? Be like your team?” Juliana runs her hands through her hair and shakes her head. “Guess you were right. We failed, just like you did, and now there’s nothing that can stop Rita.” 

It hits her then, as Juliana stumbles back a few steps and collapses on the bottom stair, that they failed. They lost. They put the entire world in danger with their failure. Their parents, their siblings. Alex and Dani were only six years old and because of Juliana’s failure, they’d never turn seven. 

“It should have been me.” 

“Juliana,” her head snaps up when Daisy calls her name. Juliana hadn’t even realized that she’d spoken aloud. “We knew what we were doing when we went to fight Rita. We knew the risks. Valentina did, too.” 

“You can’t blame yourself for this,” Kimberly adds, throwing a harsh glare at Zordon. She can’t believe it either. A few hours ago, Kimberly was teasing her best friend about the girl she liked and now she’s standing above her best friend’s  _ body _ . “She wouldn’t want you to. And she wouldn’t want us to give up, either.” 

“Kimberly is right,” Jemma digs in her pocket for a moment and then pulls out her Power Coin. The white gem glows faintly in her hand. “Valentina did this for us. She gave us a chance to stop Rita.” 

“How?” Juliana asks, ignoring the pulsing warmth of her own Coin in her pocket. “How can we stop Rita? We can’t morph, we can’t control the Zords and we don’t have a full team,” Juliana glances at Valentina’s still form and the feels the burning pricks of tears in her eyes again. “We’re not Power Rangers. We never were.” 

“I think it should have been me, too,” Daisy says as she pulls her own Power Coin out and sits down, looking at the black gem. “The whole way here, I thought that maybe if I was the one who...maybe the team could go on without me. I’d give my life in a heartbeat if it meant that the rest of you could live to fight another day.” 

“I would, too,” Trini says softly. “I would have today, if we had a choice.” 

“I doubt she would have let us, if there was a choice,” Kimberly let a small smile grace her lips as she kneeled beside Valentina, “she’s too stubborn for that. But me, too.” 

“Maybe that’s why she didn’t try to fight,” Jemma says, looking between Juliana and Valentina. “Maybe she wasn’t thinking about the Power Rangers. She was thinking about her friends. Just like we would have been.” 

“Yeah,” Daisy stretches her arm out and touches Juliana’s shoulder softly, squeezing as she continues. “Valentina knew that we were more than just Power Rangers.” 

“I love her,” Juliana admits, the tears falling harder and faster now. “I love all of you, but without Valentina,” 

“We know,” Kimberly feels Trini move up beside her. “We understand.” 

“We’re family,” Daisy squeezes Juliana’s shoulder again, “and we’ll stay that way until the very end.” 

Juliana covers Daisy’s hand on her shoulder with her own and closes her eyes. For a moment they all sit like that in silence, mourning their loss, until the Morphing Grid begins to activate. Juliana’s eyes open as the energy within the Grid begins to move, swirling and dancing before their eyes. The ship begins to shake and Juliana gets to her feet and blindly reaches out behind her to stabilize Daisy when she does the same. 

“The Morphing Grid is open!” Alpha cheers. “Zordon, this is your time. Step through! Zordon, step through!” 

Zordon released a sound like half-scream, half-grunt and his likeness faded from view. The pixelated wall moved in ripples like water for a moment as the Morphing Grid began to spin faster and faster and faster until suddenly-

It stopped. 

~

She was inside the Morphing Grid, Valentina was sure of it. The colors around her were bright, vibrant, and they moved together seamlessly. There was no pattern to the way the colors moved and mixed, red, pink, yellow, black and white all danced around her in a breathtaking display. It was beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that for a moment Valentina didn’t notice that there was a color missing. No matter where she looked, which color she studied or how quickly the patterns changed, there was no blue around her. 

It felt like hours had passed before anything began to change. Valentina had laid down, or at least it felt like she had laid down. She wasn’t sure if she could actually, physically lay down since she was essentially in a formless vortex of color, but she didn’t want to dwell on that. She wanted to watch the colors around her grow brighter and stronger, filling the space with their light. She can picture each of her friends as she looks at the color that represents them. She sees Daisy’s grin the first time they jumped down to the ship, the way Trini lifted one eyebrow when she and Daisy traded teasing jabs, Jemma’s flustered expression when she and Daisy were caught making out on the ship, Kim’s proud smirk as she walked back into the detention room after chopping her own hair off in the bathroom, and Juliana’s eyes lit by a dying fire just like they had been moments before Valentina kiss her for the first time. 

An eternity passed in the space of a few seconds. Valentina lay there for an undefinable amount of time but then she can hear voices. They’re far away, faint with distance but Valentina knows who they are instantly. 

“ _ We’re not Power Rangers, _ ” Juliana says. Valentina tries to call out for her but no sound comes out of her voice. The faint voices grow fractionally louder. 

“ _ I think it should have been me, too, _ ” this time she hears Daisy. “ _ I’d give my life in a heartbeat if it meant the rest of you could live. _ ”

“ _ Me too,”  _

_ “I would have today, if there had been a choice,”  _ Kim and Trini’s agreements overlap one another. Valentina climbs to her feet, no sound coming out of her mouth even as her neck strains with the effort of screaming for her friends. 

“ _ Maybe that’s why she didn’t fight. She was thinking about her friends, _ ” Jemma, the voice of reason. Their voices are getting louder. Valentina can feel the Morphing Grid changing, shifting beneath her. Something like a heartbeat begins to sound in the swirl of energy surrounding her. 

“ _ I love her, _ ” Valentina can hear the tears in Juliana’s voice and begins clawing at the walls of the Morphing Grid. She had to get out. “ _ I love all of you, but without Valentina, _ ” 

_ “We’re family, and we’ll stay that way until the very end _ .” 

“You’re friends care for you a great deal,” this voice is closer, right by Valentina’s ear. “They need you to come back,” Valentina turns around and sees a humanoid figure. His skin is a light blue shade, his eyes sad but full of wisdom. Valentina takes in the markings on his face as the recognition sets in. 

“Zordon?” Valentina can feel the Morphing Grid growing brighter around them. “How are you here?” 

“It doesn’t matter how. All that matters is you do not have to stay here,” Zordon approaches the swirling wall of energy and places his hands on it. “Only one can pass through.” 

“But Zordon, if I go then you have to stay,” Valentina touches his shoulder. Zordon nods his head in acceptance. 

“My time as a Power Ranger has ended. Yours is just beginning and your team is waiting for you. The six of you are special. You can do what I could not, that and so much more, but they can’t do it without you.” 

Zordon closes his eyes and pushes against the energy containing them. It bends and warps beneath his grasp before pulling apart and revealing a glowing pathway of dim blue light. Valentina knows that path is meant for her, that it will take her home. 

“Zordon,” Valentina squeezes his shoulder. “Thank you,” 

Zordon nodds mutely. Valentina steps through the opening and begins walking down the path. She takes six steps and then feels her body fill with energy. She closes her eyes and trusts the Grid to take her soul back to where it belongs. 

~

The Commander Center is still silent. Zorodn’s wall is empty, the Grid is off, the light is a dim grey. It almost feels like another failure. Then someone coughs. 

Valentina coughs. 

_ Valentina _

Kimberly and Trini are right beside her and help sit the coughing girl up as the water in her lungs forcefully exits. Jemma joins them just as quickly, propping Valentina up against her knees to help keep her upright. Daisy’s hand leaves Juliana’s shoulder and she kneels in front of Valentina, takes one of her hands. 

“Valentina,” 

“How are you-” 

“I can’t believe it,” 

“Give her space, she needs to breathe.” 

The girls are all talking over one another as the fret about Valentina. Juliana feels frozen in her place, afraid to blink. There’s no way that Valentina could be awake and breathing but she  _ is _ . She clears her throat once the water in her lungs is all out and gratefully leans back against Jemma. 

“Did I die?” 

“Yes,” 

“No,” 

Trini and Kim share a look that silently asks  _ Why would you say that?  _ Valentina chuckles weakly. 

“Thanks for clearing that up.” 

“How are you back?” Daisy asks. “What happened?” 

“Zordon, why didn’t you step through?” Alpha-5 looks at the wall behind Juliana. Juliana hadn’t even realized Zordon was back. Her entire being was rooted in place, her only thought being that Valentina is alive. 

Zordon’s expression is as somber as ever as he looks at the team of Rangers before him. Valentina is climbing to her feet while repeatedly assuring her friends that she’s okay. Juliana still hasn’t moved. Zordon directs his words to the Red Ranger. 

“There can only be one Red Ranger,” Zordon says, “my team is gone. My time has passed. This is your time.” 

Zordon’s words settle a new weight on Juliana’s shoulders. This is their time, her time to protect her world. Zordon has accepted that, finally. He has placed his faith in this group of friends. He gave Valentina a second chance, one that they could not waste. This is their time. Juliana looks up at Zordon and nods her head once in both understanding and a silent thank you to the great being that gave up his chance at redemption so Juliana wouldn’t lose her team before they even really got started. Juliana feels a warmth in her chest as she turns back to her team. They’re going to morph, she can feel her armor beginning to creep out from the center of her chest, but there’s something she needs to do first. 

“Val,” Juliana’s voice comes out in a strangled whisper as she turns to her thankfully breathing again girlfriend. Valentina had climbed to her feet, bracketed on all sides by the other four girls all with varying degrees of concern on their faces as they watched Valentina for any sign of shakiness, but her eyes were only on Juliana. 

“Juliana,” Valentina nearly stumbled down the stairs when she tripped in her haste to get to her girlfriend but Juliana caught her easily. Valetina’s damp clothes cling to her as she moves but she ignores the way the pull against her uncomfortably as she wraps her arms around Juliana. 

Juliana holds Valentina close, one hand sliding to rest on the nape of Valentina’s neck and the other wrapping around her waist to pull her as close as possible. The tears that fall from her eyes are warm and she chokes back the sob that wants to escape her throat. Valentina’s head comes to rest on Juliana’s shoulder, her forehead pressing against Juliana’s neck. Juliana can feel the rush of air against her skin as Valentina breathes deeply. 

“Valentina,” Juliana says her name again, whispers it into Valentina’s hair. Valentina squeezes her tighter. 

“I’m here, it’s okay,” Valentina says. “It’s okay, we’re okay.” 

“Val, you died,” Juliana squeezes her eyes shut and holds Valentina closer. 

“Only for a little bit,” Valentina lets out a weak chuckle and pulls away from Juliana just far enough that she can look into her eyes. “I’m okay, I’m going to be okay and we’ll have plenty of time to talk about this later. Right now, we need to stop Rita.” 

“You’re right, I just-I need a second,” Juliana looks over every inch of Valentina, as if she’s trying to commit the sight to memory. The blue of her eyes, how her hair is slightly darker than normal because of the water that still clings to it, the blue hoodie she wears, everything that reminds Juliana that Valentina is physically standing in front of her again. Juliana takes a deep breath and steps closer to Valentina, tilting her head up. Valentina’s lips meet hers, warm and soft just as they had always been and it’s enough for Juliana to feel like her world is steady again. She pulls back after only a few seconds and nods her head again. 

“Ready?” 

“Ready,” Juliana confirms and turns away from her girlfriend to face the other four Power Rangers. They had seemingly been waiting patiently for Val and Juls to finish their moment and perhaps sharing one of their own, Juliana wasn’t sure but she thinks Jemma and Daisy are standing closer together than they were before and she knows that Kim’s arm hadn’t been wrapped around Trini’s shoulders a few moments ago. They all offer Juliana confident smiles. “Let’s do this.” 

When they step onto the pedestals around the Morphing Grid, there is no hesitancy. There’s no sense of wonder or fear or amazement. There’s no question if this is really what they should be doing or not. There’s none of the awkwardness that comes with stepping into the unknown with a group of virtual strangers. It’s just the six of them, together, just like they had been that night in the mines. 

The Grid lights up as they step into place and the energy begins to swirl around them. None of them look into the Grid itself, they don’t need to anymore. They know that if they did look, they would see all of their energies dancing together in a seamless, effortless movement. Their energies within the Grid were one now, a fantastic color wheel that would move without error or direction. They weren’t just strangers who found the Power Coins anymore. 

Juliana felt her armor emerging from beneath her skin, covering her limbs like it was always meant to be there. It burst from her chest first, fitting into place neatly over her t-shirt and then continued across her body, even covering her dirty converse in the metallic red material. She clenches her fists experimentally when the armor stretches over her fingertips and feels the laugh that wants to bubble up from her throat. 

They did it. They morphed. 

“This is cool as shit,” Daisy’s voice is heavily modulated but Juliana can still hear the amazement there. 

“What is this stuff made of?” Trini asks as her helmet fades away. Juliana wonders how she did that and feels the armor over her head retreat. The others follow suit. 

“Some kind of organic compound. It seems to respond to our thoughts,” Jemma had the same glint in her eye that she did before she blew up the mines, the glint that said she had a question that she was going to find the answer to. 

“We can figure that out later,” Juliana said and stepped off of her pedestal. “Right now, we have to stop Rita.” 

“Her army is waiting for you at the ravine,” Zordon informed them solemnly. “Power Rangers, your time has come.” 

“Everyone ready?” Juliana asked as they gathered at the stairs. They’d start this battle on the ravine together by jumping up to the cliffside. That would give them a better element of surprise. 

“We’re ready,” Daisy confirmed in a strong voice. 

“We can do this,” Valentina agreed. “Together.” 

“Let’s go,” Juliana felt her helmet cover her head again as she turned and began to lead them out of the Command Center. 

“Go, go, Power Rangers,” Alpha called after them as they left. Daisy laughed slightly. 

“What is that, our call sign?” She chuckled. Juliana rolled her eyes but didn’t offer any comments. 

They paused just underneath the water that would take them up to the front lines. Their helmets faded away again. Juliana took a moment to look each of them in the eyes. 

“Last chance to back out, no hard feelings,” Juliana said. 

“Not a chance,” Trini glanced over at Kimberly and then back to Juliana. 

“We’re in this together,” Kimberly added. 

“Until the very end,” Jemma finished. Juliana smiled at all of them and waited for a moment as Jemma pulled Daisy into a short kiss. 

“Alright. Let’s do this.” 

Daisy and Jemma jumped up first, followed by Trini and Kimberly after their helmets snapped into place. Before Valentina could pull her own helmet back up, Juliana put a hand on her arm. When Valentina looked at her, Juliana offered a small smile. Valentina smiled back and leaned in to connect their lips. It was soft and sweet, unhurried. A promise of more to come later. 

“I love you,” Juliana said as Valentina pulled away. “I needed to tell you, just in case.” 

“I love you too,” Valentina said, “And I’ll be telling you that everyday for a long time. We’re just getting started.” 

Juliana smiled and kissed her again. When she pulled back, her helmet materialized again and she and Valentina jumped into the battle that was waiting for them above the same way that had jumped into this whole adventure. Together. 

Go, go, Power Rangers indeed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this is up so late! I've had a lot going on and time just got away from me. 
> 
> There might be another delay next week as well but I'll do my best to get chapter 12 up on time.
> 
> See y'all next time!


	12. The Battle Begins

They burst through the water in perfect formation, arching high into the sky and landing in half crouched positions along the ravine. The impact of landing sends a cloud of dust around them that would have surely had them all coughing a lung up if not for their helmets. 

“Do you think this landing pose is instinctual or have we all seen too many action movies?” Daisy asked playfully as they righted themselves. Her voice wasn’t modulated now but rather slightly distorted. It was like talking to someone on the phone, still noticeably Daisy but slightly mechanical. 

“Does it matter?” Juliana replied, gesturing to the army of putties approaching them from the woods. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about.” 

“Right, fight now, quip later,” Daisy rolled her shoulders back and got into a fighting stance. “Got it.” 

The putties showed no hesitation as they attacked in reckless formation, not bothering to wait for the new Rangers to finish their conversation. The six Rangers dispersed across the mountain, each of them surrounded by no less than five putties at any given time. They flowed into combat even easier than they had in training. Now that they had armor, there was less concern of bodily harm happening during the battle and that made them all slightly more reckless than they would have been otherwise. Daisy and Trini fought back to back for a moment, Trini using Daisy as a launch bad to execute a flipping kick move that they definitely had not practiced before. 

“This is so much better with armor,” Valentina remarked, spinning on one heel and striking the putties around her with her other foot. A general chorus of agreement sounded and Juliana fought down the urge to ask Valentina to be more careful. She had literally just come back from the dead, something that would surely haunt Juliana for the rest of her life, and now she was fighting in a battle for not only her own life and the lives of her friends, but every living thing on the planet. Once this was all over, Juliana was going to spend at least a full day holding Valentina close to her to reassure herself that her girlfriend was actually alive. 

Juliana was brought out of her thoughts when a putty forcefully tackled her to the ground. If she hadn’t been wearing her helmet, Juliana probably would have been bleeding. As it were, she ended up with a dull ache at the back of her skull and ringing in her ears. 

“Juls?” Valentina called worriedly. 

“I’m fine,” Juliana called back and kicked the putty off of her, grinning when she saw it explode into a million pieces. Another swarm was upon her immediately and Juliana’s only saving grace was the red sword that appeared in her hands. Juliana had no idea how to fight with a sword but her instincts seemed to be filling in just fine as she downed putty after putty. “There’s too many of them, we need to do something different.” 

“Keep ‘em busy!” Daisy called and then jumped over the edge of the ravine without further explanation. Juliana rolled her eyes. 

“Jemma, remind me to tell your girlfriend she needs to explain her plans before she runs off to do them,” Juliana muttered. Jemma let out a laugh that then turned to a grunt as she dodged a couple of putties and led them to hit one another instead. 

“Duly noted,” Jemma replied as she popped back up. 

“When did that happen anyway?” Kimberly asked as she moved to back up Trini. 

“Can we talk about this later?” Trini countered, flipping over Kimberly’s shoulders so they struck two opposing putties in tandem. 

“Look, it’s not our fault that you and Kim are slow on the uptake, Tiny,” Daisy’s voice sounded in their ears. 

“Daisy, where are you?” Juliana demanded as a horde of putties surrounded her and Valentina. “We could really use a full team here.” 

“I’ve got it covered, boss.” 

Before Juliana could ask what she meant, a massive black shape burst over the cliff edge and took out several dozen putties in a wild spin maneuver. Juliana blinked twice and shook her head. Of course, Daisy would be the first to remember the Zords, she had been the most excited to pilot hers in the first place. The black Mastodon Zord beat off putties by the dozen until all that remained was a pile of dust blowing away in the wind. 

“That was so badass,” Kimberly commented as Daisy jumped down from the cockpit to the cheers of her friends. 

“I figured I could do some good with it this time,” Daisy shrugged her shoulders and her face came into view. Her helmet was still on but the visor had retreated. 

“Good plan,” Juliana complimented, “Just remember to tell us next time.” 

“Aye aye Captain,” Daisy rolled her eyes. It was then, as Daisy looked around the group, that she realized one member was missing. She hated the way her heart dropped when she noticed the blue armor missing from the circle of Rangers but the tightness released a moment later when she spotted Valentina standing near the cliff edge and looking out towards the city. 

“Guys,” Valentina called softly, “this isn’t over yet.” 

The other five girls joined Valentina at the cliffside and followed her gaze. In the distance, impossible to miss, a gleaming, golden monster ambled towards the city. 

“We have to get to Krispy Kreme and stop Rita,” Juliana turned to the others. “But we’re going to need more firepower.” 

“I’m pretty sure we’ve got that covered,” Kimberly gestured back over her shoulder towards Daisy’s Zord. “Let’s go, we don’t have time to waste.” 

Juliana nodded and snapped her visor back into place. Daisy stepped back from the ledge towards the mastodon waiting for her and watched as her five friends leaped over the edge of the ravine to get to their own Zords in the cave below. 

“Hey, quick question,” Valentina’s voice sounded a few moments later. Daisy suspected they had just reached the Roost. “Why didn’t we teleport here?” 

“Can we teleport while we’re,” Jemma paused for a moment like she was searching for the right word, “morphed?” 

“We find that out later,” Juliana called them back to attention. She was good at that, Daisy mused, good at keeping them all centered. “Let’s go.” 

Daisy waited for them to return and couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of the five huge mechanical creatures soaring through the air. They all landed on the cliffside with Daisy. All except for Kimberly who hovered above them. Daisy stepped into her place within the ranks automatically and they began to move through the woods. 

For such big machines, there was surprisingly little damage done to the forest itself but it was a relief to not have to dodge trees any more when they finally exited the mines. 

“I’m so glad I got over that fear of heights,” Kimberly muttered lowly. Valentina laughed slightly, glancing up at the pink metal of her oldest friend’s Zord as she flew above them. 

“And you were so mad at me when I pushed you off that cliff that time,” Valentina remarked with another chuckle. 

“We were 10 and I was scared of heights, of course I was mad,” Kim huffed but she was laughing too. 

“Oh, so you learned how to throw people off of cliffs from Val?” Trini asked in a tone of voice that the others could clearly picture her smirk. “Good to know.” 

“Maybe I just wanted you to stick around for a while,” Kimberly flirted back. Juliana rolled her eyes. “It worked for Valentina.” 

“Okay but I never wanted to kiss you,” Valentina responded. “Well, not after that one time.” 

“No way,” Daisy laughed as Jemma and Trini gasped. “You guys kissed?” 

“Y’all,” Juliana called before Kim or Val could answer. “Fight monster now, gossip later.” 

“Oh c’mon Juls, like you don’t want to know if your girlfriend kissed Trini’s,” Daisy said. Juliana rolled her eyes again but couldn’t hold in a slight chuckle. 

“She’s not my girlfriend,” 

“I’m not her girlfriend,” Trini and Kim spoke at the same time but only Kimberly continued, “yet.” 

“Kimberly!” 

“Children,” Juliana sighed, “You’re all children. I have to save the world and babysit at the same time.” 

“Sorry, babe,” Valentina called. They were getting close to town now, crushing the swarm of putties Rita had sent out in a futile attempt to stop them. “What’s the plan?” 

“We need to destroy Rita’s monster before we can face her again,” Juliana said. The other girls calmed down and focused on the mission finally. “Daisy you’re with me, we’ll attack head-on. Jemma, go around to Krispy Kreme and attack from the south. Valentina, you and Trini come at it from the sides. Kimberly, aerial cover and take out as many of the putties as you can. Try to keep from destroying the town too much.” 

The six Rangers were forced to break formation as a ball of burning metal was thrown at them by Rita’s monster. 

“We’ll do our best on that last part,” Kimberly said, “but no promises.” 

Orders given, the six Rangers dispersed to their positions with only Juliana remaining on her current path heading directly towards the hulking golden monster in the center of town. It hadn’t found Krispy Kreme yet but it clearly didn’t matter. Rita seemed bent on destroying as much of Angel Grove as she could in her quest for the crystal. She probably did it just to spite the Rangers. 

Juliana’s T-Rex Zord charged through the streets and she only felt a little bad about crushing one of the local bully’s cars in her wake. That chick was an asshole anyway, and Juliana knew she had picked on every single one of the other Rangers at least once even if she pretended to be friends with Val and Kim. Juliana called it karma and kept moving, as much as she wanted to limit the destruction of the town, she had other things to worry about. 

“Looks like the Putties are breaking off,” Kimberly reported from overhead. “There’s a big group headed towards the residential areas.” 

Juliana swallowed harshly as her mind flashed to her family who would have still been home when the attack started. Her mother would have seen the commotion in town, or on the news, and rightly kept the twins home from school. Juliana probably had several dozen messages from her by now but she wasn’t exactly sure if she could access her phone to check. 

“Keep them back,” Juliana ordered. “We need to keep them downtown. It’s still early enough that most people won’t be at work yet.” 

“I could use a hand,” Kimberly’s words were followed by a soft grunt and a rattling sound. She must have been doing some kind of evasive maneuver. 

“I got you, Kimmy,” Trini replied instantly. Juliana made a noise of confirmation in the back of her throat and Trini’s yellow Sabertooth Tiger Zord dashed off to follow Kim, taking out every putty-and a few vehicles-along the way. 

“That thing’s getting closer to Krispy Kreme,” Valentina warned. A sound that reminded Juliana of the blasters from Star Wars reached her ears and she realized that Valentina must have engaged her weapons system. Valentina’s weapons sounded different than Daisy’s had on the cliff and Juliana spared a thought to consider the possibility that they all had different weapons in their Zords, or in general like the sword that had appeared in her hands on the cliffs. “Juls, what should we do?” 

“Attack from all sides,” Juliana said after shaking her head clear. “Pull it away from Krispy Kreme and see if we can break it up.” 

“On it,” Daisy confirmed and Juliana could feel her anticipation in the Ranger sense. Daisy moved into position to attack the golden monster-Goldar, Zordon had called it-from the east, opposite of Valentina on the west. Juliana and Jemma were coming from the north and south respectively but it was Juliana who reached the creature first. 

The T-Rex leaped on Goldar’s back and sunk the claws of its feet deep into the molten gold. The impact jostled Juliana in the cockpit but she kept a tight hold of the controls and directed her weapons to the space just below her before opening fire. Goldar released a massive roar and reached behind itself blindly. Juliana was able to dodge the hands for a moment but Goldar moved with surprising agility and managed to catch her tail. The red Zord was torn from Goldar’s back and flung through the air, narrowly missing a group of frightened civilians who seemed too scared to even move. 

Juliana groaned as she righted the Zord, using the tail to gently usher the civilians in the direction of safety and acting as a guard from them as they ran. Valentina and Daisy attacked Goldar from opposite sides, using both of their weapons to destroy one of the great, golden wings protruding from Goldar’s back. They were in the process of doing the same to the second wing when a burst of power knocked them away from the monster. The two girls released twin cries of surprise as they were thrown to the ground in opposite directions. Juliana’s immediate desire to check on them was forced away by the need to see where the power had come from. 

Rita stood a few meters from her monster, her expression a mixture of surprise and annoyance. She was smirking still, twirling her golden staff in her hands as her green armor reflected the light. She almost looked beautiful, in a terrifying way. Juliana felt sick to her stomach as she heard Rita’s voice inside her Zord. 

“You can’t win, Little Red,” Rita mocked her with a deranged laugh. “You may have found your dino cars and armor, but you’re no match for me. I’ve already killed one of you once, I bet the second time, I can make it stick.” 

Juliana felt frozen in place as Rita turned from her, that smirk still in place, and began stalking in the direction of Valentina’s fallen Zord. Juliana hadn’t even realized that her girlfriend was still down, the blue Triceratops Zord was overwhelmed with Putties, unable to get rid of them fast enough to gain any sort of advantage. For a moment, just like at the docks, Juliana had no idea what to do. She could fire her weapons, but that risked hitting Valentina and Juliana didn’t know how their Zords would hold up to be fired at by the others. She could go for Goldar again, but that would only work if it distracted Rita enough. She could go directly for Rita and risk being pushed away by whatever magical powers Rita had before she could even try attacking her. There were too many options and all Juliana could think about was that she was going to lose Valentina again. 

“I’m really getting tired of this bitch,” Kimberly said as she zoomed past Juliana in a flash of pink. In a move that looked perfectly rehearsed, Kimberly flew directly up to Valentina and angled her wings so that the tip of it caught on one of the blue horns and pulled up. Kimberly straightened her wings out as she rose up and ended up spinning the Triceratops Zord in a circle, guns firing on the hordes of Putties that Valentina had been freed from. Once the Putties were gone, Kimbler angled her wings again so Valentina’s horn slipped right off and she landed with her feet firmly on the ground and guns pointed directly at Rita. 

“How the fuck did you do that?” Daisy said, clearly astonished and taking the words right out of Juliana’s mouth. 

“It doesn’t matter. Goldar found Krispy Kreme,” Jemma said as her Zord appeared at Daisy’s side, the Tiger’s head tilting almost like it was checking Daisy’s Zord for any signs of injury. 

Just as Juliana turned to look at the beast, an enormous chunk of the earth was ripped away from the ground and revealed an eery, green glow. 

“The crystal,” Valentina said lowly. “We have to stop it.” 

“Let’s go,” Juliana led the attack against Goldar again, biting down on the remaining wing to pull it away from the opening in the earth. Goldar rolled to the side and the other five Rangers moved around the giant beast to form a protective barrier around the crystal, which Juliana completed when she took her spot with Valentina and Daisy on either side of her. Trini was on Valentina’s other side, Jemma beside Daisy, and Kimberly above them all. Juliana knew as soon as Goldar rose again and roared at them, they couldn’t beat it like this. They were missing something, something crucial. 

“GET ME MY CRYSTAL!” Rita yelled, a glint in her eyes and her teeth bared. Goldar roared in acknowledgment and then all the Rangers could see was gold. They fired at Goldar, aiming directly at the chest, but it had no effect on the beast. 

“It’s getting really hot, guys,” Daisy sounded breathless when she spoke. “I don’t know if I can-” 

“Daisy?” Jemma’s cry was filled with worry. “Daisy wake up!” 

“Keep fighting,” Kimberly said, but Juliana could hear the exhaustion in her voice. 

“It’s too much,” Trini’s voice had a dream-like quality to it like she was half asleep. 

“Trini, no.” A crash shook Juliana’s Zord, Kimberly unable to keep hovering above them. 

“Juliana,” Valentina said softly. Juliana looked to her right and saw Valentina’s hand pressed against the cockpit glass of her Zord. Her helmet was gone again but all Juliana could focus on was the blue of her eyes. Juliana reached out and placed her right hand against the glass. 

“No one dies alone,” 

With one final shove and a mighty roar, the Power Rangers were pushed into the overheated ground. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for being patient with me about these updates! I really appreciate it! 
> 
> See y'all next time!


	13. We Are Power Rangers

Valentina had never given much thought to how she would die. It had crossed her mind once before, when she watched cancer destroy her mother and wished for the pain to go away. At the time, Valentina hadn’t known if she was wishing for her mother’s pain to go away, or her own. Now trapped in a burning metal beast with her four best friends and the girl she had fallen in love with by her side, Valentina knew. She’d take all the pain in the world if it meant that the others could slip peacefully into oblivion. As the Zords fell deeper into the open Earth that had been exposed by Goldar, Valentina could only close her eyes and wish with all her heart that they would somehow make it out of this. 

Suddenly, Valentina felt a pull behind her navel. She was being teleported, her eyes opening just into time to see the pixelated, blue beam of light engulf her before she couldn’t see anything else. She still had one hand stretched out in the direction of Juliana and she startled slightly when she felt a pressure against her fingertips, a flash of red on the edge of her vision. When the blue light faded, Valentina was sitting in a pilot's chair, but without the constricting walls of her Zord around her. The walls had been replaced by people. 

Juliana sat to her left, their hands touching now that the glass that had separated them had been removed. On Juliana’s other side was Daisy, breathing heavily and shaking her head to help regain her sense. The three of them were slightly elevated and below them sat Kimberly, Trini, and Jemma. 

“Did we die?” Daisy asked. 

“Not this time,” Valentina answered with a shake of her head. Their helmets had faded away but all six of them still wore their armor. 

“Where are we?” Trini asked, glancing around at their new surroundings. There was a control panel that stretched across the cockpit in front of her, Kim, and Daisy. A similar one resided behind them, silently elevated for the other three Rangers to use. 

“I’m not sure,” Juliana linked her hand completely with Valentina’s for a moment and squeezed gently before letting go and focusing on the controls before her. “I think our Zords joined together.” 

“So we’re like a giant Mama Zord?” Kimberly glanced over her shoulder at Valentina. 

“No that sounds lame,” Daisy piped up. “It’s a Megazord.” 

“We can debate about the name later,” Juliana said with a roll of her eyes. “This battle isn’t over yet.” 

The Megazord emerged from the open earth as a magnificent robot, gleaming in the late summer sun. The only object that shone brighter was Goldar himself, all except for the black expanse where the Rangers had expected to see eyes. Now that they were able to be face to face, in a manner of speaking, with the great hulking beast, it was easy to see the absence of anything inside the monster. No eyes, no heart, not soul. Goldar was nothing more than a tool for Rita’s use and, as it turned out, a vessel for Rita herself. 

As the Rangers watched with wide eyes, Goldar knelt onto one knee and held one burning hand out. Rita stepped into the palm and was carried up to the center of Goldar’s chest, where she was held gently until her body was absorbed by the beast. A pulse of the green magic that represented Rita’s power swept out from the creature and he released a roar that was half angry, half broken. A part of Valentina mourned for the creature. The gold that created him was a pure work of the earth, innocent and unmarred by man. Now it was a twisted machination of the woman who had come to their town with the sole intent to kill them all. 

“We have one last chance to stop her,” Juliana said forcefully. Valentina glanced over and read the determination in her face. “We won’t waste it.” 

“One question,” Daisy held up her hand like a kid in a classroom. “How the hell do we steer this thing?” 

Juliana’s answer came without any hesitation. “Together.” 

As if the word was a command, the control panel suddenly lit up. Just like with piloting the Zords, the motions to control the giant robot came from the space in their minds between natural instincts and their Ranger sense. Valentina and Jemma controlled one arm each, their movements as the beast moved fluid and unhurried. Juliana connected them, ordering them to move each arm individually while she focused on readying the weapons system. Daisy and Kimberly each controlled one leg while Trini, sitting between them, was responsible for keeping the whole Megazord balanced. Later, when they weren’t in the middle of battle, Juliana would wonder about their placements and roles in the Megazord but there wasn’t time for that now. 

Goldar was rushing them, the impact of the great golden beast connecting with Megazord jarring them all so much that they nearly toppled over, both in and out of the Zord. Working tandem, Daisy and Kimberly moved the Megazord into a half crouched position with a slight lean forward. The angle helped Valentina and Jemma grip onto Goldar’s shoulders and force him back, away from the crystal. 

Goldar stumbled backwards as the Rangers advanced on him. 

“We need to get him out of the city,” Juliana ordered. “There’s too many civilians now.” 

Juliana was somewhat annoyed by the amount of people screaming on the sidewalks now. She had hoped that the citizens of Angel Grove would see a giant golden monster fighting an equally giant robot and simply run the other way or, at the very least, stay inside. Of course, that turned out to be too much to hope for and the people flooded the streets. 

“Can we blast him away?” Daisy asked. 

“Too risky,” Jemma replied. “The explosion could hit civilians or just piss him off.” 

“What about a sword? Do we have one of those?” Kimberly asked. “Because apparently Goldar does.” 

The Megazord suddenly jolted to the left, almost knocking the Rangers out of their chairs. 

“Sorry,” Valentina apologized for the roughness of the maneuver. Any reprimand, or joke, died before it could be spoken as the other five girls saw the molten sword that surely would have sliced them in two if not for Valentina’s jerky dodge. “Juls, sword?” 

“Sword,” Juliana confirmed. She pressed a button near the center of her section of the control panel that gave her control over the arms. To her surprise, both arms moved back and gripped the wings of Kimberly’s pterodactyl Zord. “Swords, apparently.” 

“Zord swords if you want to be specific about it.” 

“Not the time Kimberly,” Juliana said. “Although I would have expected that comment to come from Daisy.” 

“She’s too busy trying to figure how to combine sword and zord correctly so she can make it into a pun,” Jemma sent Daisy a short smile, the slightly embarrassed one she received in return confirming that that had been exactly what Daisy had been trying to do. 

“You know how to use that thing right?” Trini asked, tilting her head back to look at the Red Ranger. 

“Actually no,” Juliana shrugged her shoulders and a sound like metal sliding together made her wonder if the Megazord had done the same. “But I didn’t know how to use one on the cliffs either and that worked out okay.” 

“Thank God for Ranger instincts.” Daisy rolled her eyes. 

“Juls, babe, you might want to block,” Valentina said and pointed out the window where Goldar had gotten back to his feet and was in the process of raising his weapon for another strike. 

“Right.” Juliana nodded once as if to signal to herself that she was once again focused on the battle. “Daisy, Kim, don’t let us lose an inch.” 

“Got it,” Kimberly and Daisy shared a short glance and then moved at the same time so the Megazord assumed a position similar to their battle stances. One leg forward, one leg back, both arms up with swords ready. 

Inside Goldar, Rita released an annoyed yell as the Rangers managed to parry every blow Goldar made against them. It shouldn’t be possible for a group of pitiful Earth children to hold her back, and yet here they were. Rita’s powers were waning, her efforts to increase Goldar’s strength futile and her golden sword slowly falling to pieces from strike after strike of the MegaZords’ weapon. 

When Rita saw the Rangers putting away their swords, obviously having realized that Goldar’s weapon was gone, all rational thoughts left her mind. Her greatest desire in that moment, greater than her desire for the crystal, was to end the Power Rangers and it was that desire that would be her undoing. 

The Megazord pushed Goldar back as he rushed them again but this time, when the great beast fell backwards, Rita burst from his chest with her staff aimed at the glass of the cockpit. She advanced with a yell and a maniacal grin. Juliana, still with control of the arms, did the first thing that came to mind. As soon as Rita was in Ranger, Juliana swung her arm out like she was backhanding someone. The impact launched Rita high into the sky, her golden monster falling apart as she left the Earth’s atmosphere. 

“Juliana, did you just slap her?” All five Rangers were staring at their leader but it was Kimberly who had asked the question. Juliana couldn’t resist the teasing smile that spread her lips. 

“It’s not as efficient as punching someone’s tooth out, but I’ll take what I can get.”

“Har har,” Kimberly faked laughed and then she was up, out of her seat and throwing her arms around Trini like she thought she would never get the chance to do it again. Before any of them could react to the unexpected move, Trini did something even more unexpected and pulled Kim closer, one hand on the back of her neck, until their lips connected. 

“I knew it!” Daisy cheered, dancing in her chair. 

“Darling, we all knew it,” Jemma said but reached her hand out in Daisy’s direction. Daisy gladly took the offered hand and held it tightly. It would do until they were back at the mines and she could properly hold Jemma. 

“We’re gonna have to make a list of no make out zones on the ship,” Juliana mumbled lowly even as she rose from her own seat. Valentina met her in the middle and they hugged tightly. 

“We can worry about that later,” Valentina said, pulling out of the hug far too quickly for Juliana’s liking. “For now, we have an audience.” 

“What?” 

On the ground below them, staring up at the Megazord with eyes wide in wonder and phone cameras recording were the citizens of Angel Grove. 

“Maybe we should introduce ourselves,” Jemma suggested as she let go of Daisy’s hand to settle back into her chair. “Look, there’s a button here to return us all to our own Zords.” 

“Let’s see if there is anything we can help with down there,” Juliana returned to her own chair and held her hand over the solitary red button on her section of the control panel. The others did the same, finding their own color and waiting for Juliana’s signal. As one they pressed the buttons and were each teleported to their own Zord. Juliana ordered them to line up and waited until everyone was in position, with their helmets back on, to open the cockpit and exit the vehicle. 

The citizens watched them warily as the Power Rangers made their way over to them. The suits obscured any details about them other than height so the people they approached had no idea that they were simply a bunch of sixteen-year-olds from Angel Grove High. Most of the adults looked fearful, the older children the same even if they tried to hide it. Finally, a little boy who couldn’t have been much older than Dani and Alex stepped up to Juliana. 

“Who are you?” He asked bravely, his voice steady and his hands shaking slightly from excitement rather than fear. Juliana smiled beneath her helmet and addressed the crowd. 

“We are the Power Rangers,” she said in a heavily modulated voice, though she sounded normal to the others, before kneeling down so she was at eye level with the little boy. “And we’re here to help.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this isn't my usual post date but I'm all mixed up on dates and things with the quarantine thing going on. I'm trying to finish the last chapter tonight to go ahead and upload that as well, but it might not be done until tomorrow. Either way, as soon as I have it finished and edited I'll post it. Thanks for reading and I'll see y'all on the next, and final, chapter.


	14. After The Dust Settles

They don’t linger in town for long. The people are still wary of them and Juliana figures that they had been pushed out of their comfort zone enough in the past few hours of the battle. She promises the citizens that they’ll be there, the Power Rangers, should the city need protecting again, and then they leave in the Zords being extra careful to not cause any more damage to the destroyed town. There’s a small spattering of cheers around them as they leave the city for the first time and they can all feel the pride swelling in them. They did it. They beat Rita and saved the crystal. More than that, they did it together. 

“Hey guys,” Daisy broke the silence as she so often did. “You know what I just thought of?” 

“What?” Trini asked. 

“How the hell are we going to get these things back into the cave?” 

“That’s...a good question actually,” Valentina commented. Slowly, the six Zords came to a stop and settled in a roughly circular shape. Juliana couldn’t see them through the tint of the Zords’ window, which she was sure hadn’t been there earlier when they were about to be shoved into the molten earth, but she knew they were all looking at her. 

“Can we teleport them in there?” Juliana asked as she glanced back and forth between Val’s and Daisy’s Zords. 

“Maybe,” Valentina said slowly. 

“I’ll try it out,” Trini volunteered, most likely because she knew Valentina would otherwise but Valentin had already risked her life, and lost it, for them more than enough in the past twelve hours. Juliana agreed and they waited in silence as the yellow Tiger Zord faded away in a flash of pixelated light.

“I’ve always wondered why there are two tiger Zords,” Jemma commented as Trini teleported away. “The rest of you are dinosaurs but Trini and I are the same, except for the color.” 

“Actually, Trini is a sabertooth tiger,” Kimberly pointed out. “I think yours is just a regular tiger.” 

“That’s kinda weird actually,” Valentina said thoughtfully. “Maybe your Zord formed later than ours did?” 

“Do you think the Zords will ever change forms?” Daisy asked. “Like I know we made the Megazord but, I don’t know. I feel like this Zord is mine but not  _ mine  _ mine, you know? Like I can use it but it wasn’t made for me.” 

“I guess that’s as likely as anything else,” Jemma shrugged her shoulders despite knowing that the others couldn’t see her. “Trini, did you make it to the Roost?” 

“Yeah,” a faint coughing sounded after her words. “I just missed the mark a little. Aim for where your Zord normally rests. Probably best to come one at a time.” 

Kimberly teleported back first, then Daisy, Jemma, Valentina, and finally Juliana. Juliana takes a moment as the Zord settles into place to close her eyes and breathe deeply. They did it. They survived. Valentina survived. She’s alive and happy and waiting just outside Juliana’s Zord. That is all the motivation Juliana needs to disengage the locking mechanism that keeps them safely in the Zords in battle and jump out. By the time she finally has Valentina in her arms again, their armor has faded away so Juliana can revel in the feel and scent of her girlfriend. The tears well up and fall before Juliana has the time to process why and then Valentina is pulling back slightly and cupping Juliana’s jaw to wipe her tears away with the pads of her thumbs. 

“We did it, Juls,” Valentina whispers against Juliana’s lips before kissing her properly. The kiss is salty both from Juliana’s tears and the sweat that still clings to them but it’s enough to clear the foggy, emotional haze in Juliana’s mind. 

“I love you,” Juliana says when they part. She has to say it now, maybe even more than she did before the battle. She needs Valentina to know that Juliana didn’t say it only because she feared she’d never get the chance to. “I love you so much Valentina.” 

“I love you Juliana,” Valentina kisses her again, softer this time and with both of them smiling against one another’s lips it’s more of a pressure than a true kiss. Still, it was full of promise, of the love they both shared. “Today, tomorrow, and every day after that.” 

“Gross,” Daisy’s comment was met with a middle finger from both girls as they kissed again and a sharp slap on her shoulder from Jemma. 

“Let them celebrate,” Kimberly said softly. She and Trini had stepped up beside Jemma and Daisy, Kimberly’s arm wrapped loosely around Trini’s shoulders. 

“Yeah, today was hard on all of us, but Juls actually lost her for a little bit,” Trini leaned against Kim and fought to keep any physical reaction down as Daisy looked at them with a raised eyebrow. “They need this.” 

“And I need a nap,” Daisy joked as they started the walk away from the Roost, through the Pit and towards the ship. Valentina and Juliana would follow them when they finally came up for air. Daisy fished her phone out of her pocket as she walked. “And I need to call my parents.” 

Her comment prompted the other three girls to check their phones where they found various missed calls and texts from their parents. Jemma’s phone rang right as she turned it over and she quickly answered the call from her mother, moving away from the group as she promises her frantic parents that she is okay, she wasn’t injured and no, they don’t need to cut their trip short. 

“So, what’s going on with you two?” Trini asked Daisy as Kimberly stepped away to call her own parents after squeezing Trini around the shoulders. 

“I could ask you the same,” Daisy gestured towards Kimberly. Trini rolled her eyes. 

“We’re figuring things out,” Trini says. “I like her, a lot, but I still don’t really know who I am or how to tell my parents. Kim makes me feel...relaxed, understood. All I know right now is that I want to be with her.” 

“And you really hope you get to kiss her again,” Daisy teased with a playful wink. Trini laughed but didn’t comment. 

“Your turn. You and Jemma, sparks are flying. We can all see it andI know Val and Juls caught the two of you making out.” 

“I really like her and I think she likes me too,” Daisy ignored Trini’s ‘duh’ and continued. “But I’m not used to this yet. People that I care about have a tendency to leave.” 

There, in the way Daisy looked at Jemma, Trini could see the vulnerability that hid behind her jokes and sarcasm. She hid it well, her playful persona carefully constructed so that no one could see the heart that rested inside, so carefully guarded and yet still bleeding from all the loss she’d suffered. 

“Jemma won’t leave,” Trini touched Daisy’s arm gently and the other girl looked over at her. “I’m willing to bet that she’ll prove that to you if you let her.” 

“I hope so,” Daisy led the rest of the way to the Command Center without further comment and together they sat on the steps to wait for the others to join them. Kimberly joined first and took a seat beside Trini, throwing her arm around Trini’s waist as if that was where it was always meant to be. When Jemma came in a few minutes later, she situated herself one step below Daisy and leaned back into her, forcing Daisy to open her legs so Jemma's shoulders could rest against her stomach. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips as Jemma picked up her hands to play with her fingers, effectively wrapping Daisy all around her. Trini glanced at Daisy with a look that clearly said ‘I told you so’ but didn’t say anything as she made herself comfortable in Kim’s embrace. 

Juliana and Valentina joined them a few minutes later, both of them looking much more relaxed than they had before as they sat down with the others. Valentina sat on the same row as Jemma and Juliana placed herself one row below that to lean against Valentina’s legs. Valentina played with the hair against Juliana’s neck as they settled. 

“Congratulations Rangers,” Zordon said, his booming voice pulling the girl’s attention to him. “You have defeated Rita Repulsa, something that I could never do.” 

“Way to go gals!” Alpha-5 cheered, clapping his hands together. 

“We couldn’t have done it without you,” Valentina said, resting a hand on Juliana’s shoulder and squeezing gently. “I couldn’t have done it without you.” 

“Perhaps but I suppose we will never know for sure,” something like pride begins to rise in Zordon’s expression. “I do know that the six of you have formed a very special team. This galaxy and all the others will remember this day for eons. A true Power Rangers victory.” 

There was something about Zordon’s voice that made Juliana lift her head up and stare curiously at him. “Our only Power Rangers victory,” she said and after a moment Zordon nodded. 

“If you wish it to be, yes,” Zordon looked like he would have rubbed his hands together nervously if he still had a body. “Rita is gone for now, perhaps for good, and your world will be at peace again once the last of her magic leaves this place. You could give up the coins.” 

“Of course the peace won’t last,” Alpha piped up helpfully. “Rita was just the first. There will be others who come, either after the crystal or after the Rangers.” 

“Yes, that is true,” Zordon agreed solemnly. 

“What happens if we give them up?” Kimberly asked. “The next time someone attacks, we just hope the coins find another team?” 

“Yes, if another person is deemed worthy by the coins, they will be drawn to them. Just as the six of you were.” 

“But there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to use them in time,” Juliana said. “There’s no guarantee the next group of Rangers will learn to be friends like we have.” 

“No there is not,” Zordon swivelled along the wall until he was closer to the six girls. “There is time to decide. Rita’s magic will linger for a few weeks, her forces may rise again in smaller and smaller numbers until they can no longer be sustained. Once they are gone, you will have your chance to relinquish your Power Coins.” 

“We don’t have to decide right now,” Valentina squeezed Juliana’s shoulder again. “We should go be with our families and think about it.” 

“Val’s right,” Juliana agreed. “Get back to your family, but be ready to deal with any Putties that spring up. I’ll text everyone a time for a bonfire tonight.” 

“We’ll also need to recover Rita’s power coin,” Alpha said as the girls stood up. 

“One thing at a time, Alpha,” Trini accepted the hand Kimberly held out to help her stand up. After a short hesitation, Trini stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss against Kim’s cheek. “I’ll see you later.” 

Kim was still smiling dumbly when she teleported out too a few seconds after Trini. Daisy rolled her eyes. 

“They’re going to be as unbearable as you two,” Daisy said, gesturing to where Valentina and Juliana stood together with their arms wrapped around one another. 

“As if we’re not the same,” Jemma took Daisy’s hand in her own. “They’ll be just as bad as the rest of us.” 

Daisy grinned widely. “Does that mean that there’s an us for real?” 

“Of course,” Jemma squeezed Daisy’s hand and pulled her closer. “I don’t share.” 

Juliana pretended to gag as Jemma and Daisy kissed, purley to annoy Daisy as payback for earlier. She actually thought that the two of them made quite a cute couple. 

“And since my parents are out of town,” Jemma continued once they had pulled away, “I don’t have anywhere to be until the bonfire.” 

“I’ve got a place in mind, if you don’t mind saying hello to Phil and Melinda first.”

“Sounds lovely,” Jemma and Daisy teleported out together after trading goodbyes with Juliana and Valentina. 

“For gemstones with mystical powers, the power coins are surprisingly good match makers,” Valentina commented with a light squeeze of Juliana’s waist. 

“Maybe that’s part of the mystical powers deal,” Juliana agreed with a soft laugh, smiling slightly as Valentina leaned over to press a kiss against her cheek. 

“Are you okay?” Valentina asked a moment later, holding Juliana to her tighter. 

“I will be,” Juliana turned her head so she could look into Valentina’s eyes, seeing the care and warmth reflected there. “I should go check in with my mom and the twins.” 

“Of course,” Valentina nodded her head. “Call me when you’re done?” 

“You don’t have to check in with your dad?” Juliana asked curiously. 

“He left yesterday, business trip to Mexico City. I’ll call him tonight,” Val shrugged. “Eva and Guille are both back in LA for school.” 

“Oh,” Juliana turned her body so she and Valentina were face to face. “Why don’t you come with me then? Dani is dying to meet you.” 

“I don’t have to,” Valentina replied softly. “Meeting your mom is a big step, if you aren’t ready-” 

“I love you,” Juliana cut her off. “I almost lost you once already and I don’t want to waste anymore time. I’m sure my family will love you just as much as I do.” 

“If you’re sure,” Valentina leaned in to press her lips against Juliana’s. “I love you, too.” 

“Let’s go then,” Juliana leaned in to steal another kiss before taking Valentina’s hand and teleporting them both out of the command center. 

“They really are a pretty amazing team,” Alpha commented once they were gone, turning to Zordon when he emerged from the wall where he had retreated once the Rangers started trading goodbye’s. 

“Time will tell if they are truly legendary,” Zordon spoke softly. 

“But you already believe they will be, otherwise you would have stepped through the Grid when you had the chance,” Alpha’s comment was met with silence and the little robot laughed. “I’ll take your silence as confirmation.” 

Zordon retreated back into the wall that was his home from now on and only Alpha, who had known him for several years even before they were trapped in the ship, could see the small smile on his lips as he faded away. 

~

Lupita was just as worried as Juliana expected her to be and immediately pulled her daughter in for a strong hug as soon as she walked in the door, a difficult and slightly uncomfortable feat as Juliana refused to let go of Valentina’s hand even as she hugged her mother back with her other arm. 

“I’m fine, Ma,” Juliana said as her mother held her by the shoulders, turning her body every way she could to make sure her daughter hadn’t been injured. Valentina stifled a laugh with her free hand but a little sound escaped and pulled Lupita’s attention to her. 

“Sorry,” Valentina apologized sheepishly. 

“Oh, Ma, this is Valentina,” Juliana took a small step away from her mother so she was closer to her girlfriend. “Her dad is out of town so I asked her to come home with me after everything that happened downtown.” 

“Valentina,” Lupita greeted with a small smile and then turned back to her daughter with a curious expression. “The same Valentina that Dani has been so eager to meet? Your Valentina?” 

“Yeah, my Valentina,” Juliana confirmed even as a blush rose on her cheeks at the implications of her words.Beside her, Valentina grinned and squeezed her hand. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Valentina offered her blushing girlfriend’s mother a smile. “I hope I’m not intruding.” 

“Of course not, please make yourself at home,” Lupita gestured for the girls to go further into the house but gripped Juliana’s arm shortly. “We’ll talk about where you were later.” 

Juliana nodded shortly and followed after Valentina into the living room where Dani and Alex greeted their older sister joyfully. 

“Juli, where were you? You missed the giant robot,” Alex informed her very seriously as he pulled Juliana over to the couch. Valentina followed, happily keeping her hold on Juliana’s hand. “It was awesome and made of a bunch of smaller robots! There were dinosaurs and tigers and - Who are you?” 

Alex’s commentary came to an abrupt end as he noticed the girl that had come in with his sister. Dani noticed her as well and leaned closer, over Juliana’s lap, to get a good look at the stranger. 

“I was with a few of my friends, buddy. We were getting coffee before school,” Juliana internally cringed at the lie but she knew she couldn’t reveal that she was one of the people in the giant robot to her siblings, even if they could keep a secret. “And this is-” 

“Valentina!” Dani cheered, cutting her sister off. “Juli’s Valentina, she’s got blue eyes.” 

“That’s me,” Valentina smiled at the little girl, wondering just how much Juliana had told her family about her and their relationship even as she enjoyed the embarrassment coloring Juliana’s cheeks at being called out by both her mother and baby sister. “And you must be Dani and Alex,” Valentina tickled the little girl who had moved closer to her and smiled at the boy. Dani seemed to take Valentina’s friendliness as an open invitation and settled herself in Valentina’s lap. 

“Did you see the robots?” Alex asked, climbing over Juliana’s lap so he could talk to Valentina without leaning over his sister. 

“We did,” Valentina squeezed Juliana’s hand again, “but not up close. We were too far away.” 

Valentina endured round after round of questioning from Alex and Dani, ranging from the battle that morning to Valentina’s favorite color, which was purple, to the best superhero ever. If her siblings were old enough to understand what it meant to give someone a shovel talk, they probably would have done that too. Even so, Dani was watching Juliana and Valentina closely, paying extra special attention to the way they had yet to completely let go of one another. 

“Do you like my sister?” Dani asked suddenly, interrupting Alex’s string of questions about movies and making both Juliana and Valentina turn to her. 

“Yes I do, very much,” Valentina said without hesitating. “Is that okay with you?” 

“Does she like you back?” Dani countered seriously. 

“I think she does,” Valentina smiled and winked at Juliana. 

“Would you ever kiss her?” Juliana coughed slightly, obviously not expecting such a question from her baby sister. Alex looked at Valentina curiously and even Lupita, who had been in the kitchen listening to the conversation with an amused smile, peeked around the corner while they waited for Valentina to answer. 

“Not unless she wanted me too,” Valentina answered a moment later and then leaned towards Dani to whisper something in her ear. Juliana and Alex both leaned in closer but neither of them could hear what Valentina said. They could only hear Dani laughing as Valentina pulled back. 

“Juli,” Dani said through her giggles. “I like your girlfriend.” 

Valentina couldn’t help but laugh herself at Juliana’s slightly shocked expression. Chuckling at her own reaction, Juliana shook her head and leaned against Valentina’s shoulder. 

“I like her, too.” 

~

Daisy and Jemma were already at their spot, the fire they had started gaining strength as the sun began to fade over the horizon, when Trini arrived. 

“I thought my parents were never going to let me leave,” Trini commented as she plopped down on a log next to Daisy and put her guitar down beside her. She had brought it on a whim, something in her telling her that she would want to have it later. 

“Did your mom make you pee in a cup again?” Daisy asked teasingly. At Trini’s stare she continued, “What? Kim told me.” 

“Of course she did,” Trini rolled her eyes but she wasn’t all that annoyed with Kimberly. Knowing Daisy, she had probably weaseled that tidbit out of Kim before she even knew what was happening. “And no, she just didn’t want me to leave after the battle downtown. Kept talking about these white people were crazy for being out and about and how those robots or that gold thing could come back.” 

Daisy laughed a little bit knowing that Phil had been one of those crazy white people out wandering around town in the wake of a deadly battle. “So how’d you escape?” 

“Dad distracted mom long enough for me to get out the door then I ran out of sight and teleported here,” Trini turned to Jemma as Daisy chuckled. “Where did you go? Didn’t you say your parents are out of town?” 

“They are,” Jemma blushed pink and glanced at Daisy out of the corner of her eye. “Daisy invited me to join her at her home.” 

“Meeting the parents already?” Trini nudged Daisy’s leg teasingly as the girl blushed and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. 

“Keep laughing crazy girl, you’ll be next.” 

“Next for what?” Kimberly appeared quite literally out of thin air right behind the three girls and enjoyed a good laugh when they all jumped slightly. “Sorry, I thought you would have sensed me teleporting here.” 

“I’ll get you back for that, Hart,” Daisy promised, settling her hand on Jemma’s leg. “Next for introducing her girl to her parents.” 

“What about Juls and Val?” Kimberly asked while consciously not reacting to the implication that she was Trini’s girl, and ignoring Daisy’s eyebrow wiggling. 

“Val is at Juls’ house right now and I bet Juls will meet Val’s dad as soon as he gets back to town,” Jemma answered. The other three girls looked at her in surprise. “What? Juliana texted me.” 

“So, since Juliantina has already done that, you two are the only ones left,” Daisy pointed at Trini and Kimberly, who had finally settled on the log where Trini was sitting and was struggling to hide her very obvious desire to hold Trini’s hand. 

“Juliantina?” Kimberly questioned, her brow furrowed. 

“Yeah, you know that thing on the internet where people combine names? Juliana and Valentina equals Juliantina,” Daisy explained calmly. Kimberly stared at her for a moment. 

“And you say Juliana talks weird.” 

“At least I don’t say ‘y’all.’” 

“There’s nothing wrong with the word y’all,” Juliana announced her presence, and Valentina’s by extension, as they walked out of the treeline together. “It’s a perfectly good word and very useful.” 

“Whatever you say boss,” Daisy gave Juliana a mock salute. 

Juliana rolled her eyes and let Valentina pull her towards the group and then, after Valentina had set her guitar down next to Trini’s, past them, to the edge where Juliana and Valentina had kissed for the first time. Juliana didn’t need the Ranger sense to know that their friends were following them, Daisy and Trini jokingly grumbling as they followed did that well enough, but she still enjoyed the joy she could feel in all of them. The six of them settled together on the ledge with Valentina and Juliana sitting in the middle, Trini and Kimberly to their right and Daisy and Jemma to the left. They sat and watched the sunset for a while before Juliana broke the silence. 

“The cleanup shouldn’t take more than a week with Rita so far gone,” Juliana felt Valentina squeeze her hand softly. “After that, we’ll have to decide what to do.” 

“You mean decide if we want to keep the coins,” Trini clarified, needless as it may be it made her feel slightly better, although that could be the weight of Kimberly’s arm around her shoulders. 

“Yeah,” Juliana sighed. “Rita is gone, at least for now, and it could be years before she or someone else comes after the crystal again.” 

“But someone will come,” Jemma said lowly. “And not just for the crystal but for the Rangers too.” 

“We’ll be in constant danger then, always having to be ready for an attack, spending all those hours down in the Pit training,” Kimberly could see the smile on Valentina’s face and knew that she had caught on to what they hadn’t said yet, even if Juliana was still oblivious. 

“We’ll need to work on working together more, learn how to deal with one another,” Daisy ducked her head slightly to hide her wide smile. 

“And we’ll need to hide it from our family, teachers, the whole town,” Trini finished, leaning against Kimberly. 

Juliana nodded slightly, the only member of the group not smiling. Instead she looked out into the distance with her lips set into a line, like she was waiting for a rejection. “It’s a lot of work.” 

“Yeah,” Valentina agreed. “Sign us up.” 

Juliana started, turning to her girlfriend with wide eyes. “What?” 

“You heard me,” Valentina squeezed Juliana’s hand again. “The training, the danger, the spending more time with each other, all of it. We’re the Power Rangers, and we’re in this together.” 

“Yeah, I didn’t spend two weeks being annoyed by Daisy for nothing.” 

“Hey!” Daisy was the only one not overly amused by Trini’s joke. 

“But seriously,” Trini continued, “we’ve lived through a rockslide, a train crash, training in the Pit, Zords, Putties, Rita, Juliana and Valentina mooning over each other,” Trini paused as the group laughed, the girls in question smiling bashfully. “If we got through all of that by working together, then I think staying together is our best bet.” 

“You’re not getting rid of us that easily boss,” Daisy agreed. 

“I supposed we’ve made it this far,” Jemma teased lightly and then gripped Juliana’s hand with the arm that wasn’t linked with Daisy’s. “We’re a team.” 

“We’re more than that,” Kimberly added. “We’re friends.” 

“No we’re more than that,” Valentina spoke softly, smiling brightly in the last rays of the setting sun. “We’re family.” 

“Family,” Juliana repeated with an easy smile. Family different than the one she was born into, family who didn’t hurt her, or expect her to be anything other than exactly who she is. Family she had chosen for herself. “I can live with that.” 

“Good, because you’re stuck with us,” Valentina promised. The girls were so busy laughing that they didn’t notice Kimberly holding her phone out and snapping a picture of them, the first of many photos of the rag tag team of nobodies who became superheroes. The six girls who found in each other something that they hadn’t known they needed but were still grateful to have: acceptance and love, no questions asked. 

They moved back over to the fire as the sun finally faded away, seeking the warmth of the flames and the comfort of being together in a way they hadn’t experienced yet. Here, they weren’t six strangers wading through murky feelings weighed down by the uncertainty of the future. They were Power Rangers, but they were also teenagers. They were drinking things they shouldn’t be drinking and making dirty jokes and playing music together under the stars. They were couples sharing whispered love confessions and sneaking away from the fire only to return minutes later with mused hair and swollen lips to the teases and laughter of their friends. 

They were safe. 

They were happy. 

They were family. 

“I love you,” Valentina whispered against Juliana’s lips to a chorus of Kimberly and Daisy singing purposely off-key as Jemma laughed and Trini rolled her eyes but continued playing the song they were singing. Juliana hummed and pressed her lips against Valentina’s properly. 

“I love you,” she whispered back and then moved to lean against Valentina’s legs as the blue Ranger picked up her own guitar and began to play again. 

This family, this was everything Juliana hadn’t known she was missing. And now, this was everything she didn’t know how to live without. Perhaps, she decided, Alpha was correct when he used his little catch phrase as they had left to face Rita. 

Go, go, Power Rangers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we go! I really hope y'all had as much fun reading this as I did writing it. This has become one of my favorite fics to write and I've loved every comment, kudos, and ask about it! In fact, I love it so much, I'm gonna keep writing it! 
> 
> Yes, that's right, this is just the beginning. I have a massive storyline planned out for this au and while I can't make any promises about uploading the next part soon, I promise I will be working on it! Perhaps I'll do something similar to what I did with this one and post periodic updates on Tumblr as I finish a chapter or reach a certain milestone. Let me know if that's something y'all would like! 
> 
> Anyway, if you've read this far and are still here, thank you so much for reading and I really hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> As always, feel free to come yell at me on Tumblr [@ambs-writes](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ambs-writes)

**Author's Note:**

> And there we go. I'm super excited to start sharing this will all of y'all and I can't wait to hear what y'all think. As I said above, updates will be posted on Fridays until the completion of this fic (hopefully. let's be real I suck at sticking to a decent update schedule but this is almost entirely written out already. fingers crossed) 
> 
> As always feel free to come yell at me over on Tumblr [@ambs-writes](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ambs-writes)
> 
> See y'all on the next one!


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